I'm very new still, but I have looked through the wiki to determine what is needed, etc. So, to address the questions:
1) It seems that the material costs are rather low?
2) Is this to say that gathering resources is time consuming to offset this?
3) Is locating the a resource like iron ore tricky?
Yes. The whole process, from finding ore to the actual crafting is very time consuming. There is a LOT of work to put in before you start crafting a piece of armor, and with relatively slow skill progression, likely you will need to make a lot of armor to get to where you are making 'great' armor.
4) Is this still being balanced/polished?
Of course. It's early alpha. That means everything is being balanced/polished/implemented.
5) Is your goal to have everyone running around with armor on?
From what I see, it looks more like armor will be as it was when it was being used in real life- reserved for war. Perhaps lighter armor will be worn more often by those that are limited to it.
6) As OP touched on, will there be any sort of hard to get, rare, powerful, armor or even weapon that is achievable? As we no magic isn't in the game so it seems I wont get to run around with my deadly poisoned kryss of vanquishing.
Again, I would expect the answer to be no. There is supposedly going to be a slim chance of crafting better armor, but likely, it won't be noticeable to the extent you're proposing.
7) Titanium ore? not exactly of the period but still exist. Gold is a rare ore, but its only function in armor/weapon smithing is cosmetic. If elemental damage was in the game then maybe it would have a purpose.
Gold and silver are planned to be used to make jewelry, which has an effect on Luck. I wouldn't expect there to be any use in armor or weapons. And certainly no elemental damage. The process to make titanium metal wasn't discovered until about 100 years ago, so it's far out of any time period for the game.
Maybe armors or weapons with blessings on them?
There is a form of blessing available, but it is on the person, not an object. This comes through the form of prayer.
9) Artifact weapons/armor? or gear from the gods? anything?
Doubtful. Where would they come from? There's no artifacts because it's an uninhabited land prior to your arrival. So, no artifacts. As for gear coming from the gods, that isn't likely. It would circumvent the whole crafting process to get something that would have to be better than could be crafted (what god would make crappy gear?)
10) If there is nothing "special" about weapons and armor, or rare resources, you have solved the problem of random killings, who in there right mind would go around killing someone for some more "ordinary" armor/weapons and some dirt and branches.
Ubiquitous gear doesn't solve random killings. Crafting is tedious. It's work. If someone would rather not spend the effort, they'll be more inclined to risk killing someone for theirs.
11) I hope I am missing pieces to the puzzle.
12) Maybe it is being saved for content update, or future expansion.
I'm not sure if you're just curious, or expecting something different than the game is designed to offer. The game in it's current form, is looking to be more like Wurm than WoW. Everything that is going to be in the game must be crafted. So combat won't be a feasible way to get gear until it's more common, after crafters have had time to set up and distribute it.
Expect conflict to come in the form of players, not creatures. At least currently, but I wouldn't expect anything outside of basic reality. It's basically WYSIWYG. Trees, water, dirt, rock, ores, animals. Gather, craft, etc. There are no NPC's, so nowhere to get player usable items without someone crafting it from basic materials.