Age of Conan Help?

ok for age of conan do i have to buy the game and would there be a activation code for me to make an account, like Warhammer online? Could i just buy a game card from like bestbuy and use the key to make an account?

Plus how do buddy keys work? sence i have to use a credit card to make an account with the buddy key. How long does it even last and after the time does the account get charged one month, sence i had my credit card on it?

Does anyone have a extra buddy key i could use if there not giving it to someone else?