Thinking about coming back to play...Follow

Me and a friend of mine used to play EQ2. We enjoyed it thoroughly. Thought it was a great game with minor flaws. We loved the huge selection of character classes and thus resulted in us making several characters ranging from 1-20.
Well we both had the same problem once we hit that level. When we tried to take any of our characters beyond level 20, we came to a halt. We were having a hard time killing enemies of our level as fast as we were used to because our skills/armor needed upgrading. No problem we said, so we went to the auction house to find some Adept1-4 or higher scrolls, plus some higher armor and weapons. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done with paying large amounts of plat. After realizing we couldn't advance our characters without some way of making several plat for ONE skill scroll,or one piece of armor, we canceled our accounts.
We are looking at this game again because Sony seems to continue to improve it with their latest patches/expansions. We want to come back...We want to get further into the game, but without having to buy plat or pay ridiculous amounts for ONE armor piece or ONE skill scroll that will leave us flat broke.
Has the economy changed? Is it still hard for brand NEW players with no high level friends to advance in this game?
An honest answer would be great, I appreciate it.

The first 20 levels are fairly easy to get you up to speed with gameplay and some upgrades. After that, the mobs no longer feel sorry for you and they become tougher. Based on class, you will find what your maximum ability is for killing mobs. Sure, there will be plenty of deaths, but everyone goes through that. Leveling becomes a bit slower after 20, and slower at higher tiers.

1 plat for level 20 armor is not only expensive, but just plain wrong. Based on economy, which is different for each server, you should pay between 20-50g per piece of player-crafted armor (non-imbued). Of course if you only tried to buy the biggest and best armor, it will be expensive and out of your price range.

If you are fortunate to be in a guild with a dedicated crafter, they can make full sets of armor for free. Not everyone is so fortunate, so they must do it the old fashioned way...kill lots of stuff and sell the loot.

The entire gear system is based on the fact that cash and equipment are disposable. Since you will eventually outgrow your armor, you will need to spend money to get more, repeating the cycle. Don't worry about having large amounts of cash in the bank - use it for upgrades.

Sorry, got to disagree with you there. If a level 35 tank showed up for a group in Feerrott with greyed out armor and apprentice 1 skills, everyone would wonder why he A) is always taking damage, and B) can't taunt a wet mob out of a paper bag. After a few quick queries, they would drop that tin-tank like a bad joke.

Upgrades are critical to your survival. You don't need to get Adept 3 or Master for every spell of course, but you should upgrade all skills to at least Adept 1 (as you can afford). Perhaps spend some cash on a long-time-before-upgraded Master spell that is key to your class.

Gear upgrades are plentiful either from the Broker or as loot drops. Don't worry, you'll eventually find some nice gear. Why, back in MY day, I didn't see a plat until I was well into my 30's! :)

The level of an item is a good indication if it's getting old. If it's 5-7 levels below you, it's time to look for something better. Get items that boost your primary stats.

If your last server had a bad economy as you described, you could try Najena. We have a very stable and fair economy.

Remember that some things in the game are easy, but others are difficult. The game would be boring if everything was just handed out. The challenge to succeed makes the journey memorable and the victory sweet.

The way I think it goes is every 10 levels mobs get harder and exp gain gets slower, that is pretty much how every MMORPG game is though.

I don't see how any 1 piece of armor or spell at lvl 20 should be 1pp. MAybe a rare master 1 spell (such as master 1 pet) might go for that, but adept 1/app4 shouldn't. Same with armor. I have noticed lower level legendary armor is overpriced mainly because most crafters are high lvl now and there isn't much competition. But you really don't need legendary armor until 50+, really you can go all the way to the top without it if you can't afford it. Tank classes are probably the only classes that ever really NEED legendary armor, and even then you can still get by without it.

I started a toon from scratch around Jan 1st. Within 2 months time I had all the PP I needed and every 10 levels I was getting imbued legendary armor, adept 1 to adept 3 spells etc etc. I had nobody helping me, nobody feeling sorry for me giving me stuff, etc. I managed to loot some rare items sold them and got myself going.