it has a lot of potential, but i would advise waiting a few months before purchasing. in answer to your questions:

crafting is relatively simple but very grindy. there are many, many, many types of material to craft from and most of the recipes require a variety of tools to construct. it's your standard, open recipe, put mats and tools in recipe template, click craft. the fun part is there are many interdependencies between the various crafting specialties, so in theory this will help promote commerce within the game world. in practice many people just end up learning enough crafts to help them make all the stuff they really want. when items are crafted they have a quality based on the level of crafter and the quality of materials and tools used. at some point in the future the quality stuff will probably help people differentiate which crafts they are really good at and which crafts are just for utility.

pvp, needs work. as far as how it works, you have weapon swing mechanics and some dodge and block mechanics. the world is open pvp everywhere except for tribal totem lands which are safe zones for their tribe members. full looting is enabled, so if you die in the world you will have your pants taken

for the game world size, i don't know how it relates to wurm or atitd but it takes several hours to traverse the whole world and the terrain makes some routes very challenging. it seems to be a decent size and given the population it is more than enough room for everyone to find their space.

if you are really into trying out indie mmos and want to see another one in a beta-ish state then purchase, especially if you dig watching(and possibly helping) the world grow. if you prefer a more polished game with more finalized ideas then wait. if i had it to do over i would have waited purchasing this one, ymmv.