I started playing with some friends during the beta test. We were all gnomes so we would have the same starting city. I played a rogue. If I recall correctly, the others were magician and cleric.
I played EQ when it went live, and played until Gates of Discord. Since then I seem to have a cycle of playing for 1-2 years before taking 1-2 years off. EverQuest is the game I always end up returning to, though.
I have a Mischief character but haven’t put too much time in, even though it seems that is the best long term server. Hopefully I can move my Yelinak Druid there at some point but not sure what the transfer rules really look like.
I am not sure about transfer rules. With SoF out, the group gear is as good as the raid gear from the previous expansion. If you sell a krono, you could gear up and get 70+ pretty quick and start grouping and getting the gear to drop or buy it with the leftover money. With all gear being tradeable, leveling is pretty easy with cheapo gear from past expansions.