My understanding is that it will indeed force us to start in the city that our class is associated with, however we will be able to choose the class that we start with. So for Danielle, who has an L50 CNJ/WHM (which she uses all the time) and a L50 BLM/THM (which she uses rarely), she just picked THM so she could start in Ul'dah with me (GLD). We know we can easily just travel where we want to go anyway and use the other classes. It won't have a huge, dramatic effect on how you experience the game beyond what introduction and starting quests you get.

Remember, the starter city doesn't force you to pick their Grand Company. You can start in whatever city you want and pick the Grand Company from any of the other cities once you start the Grand Company questline. So far as I know, there are no bonuses for starting in a specific city at all.

As for making gear: So long as it's not too expensive or time-consuming (ie, getting the materials together) I'm happy to make people in the Fat Chocobos Free Company any gear they need. Between Ari, Smitten and myself I'm sure we have all the bases covered. Our Evil Midget Chef, Tony Brewster, is normally willing to help for food so long as you stay on his good side.