Sounds like you're out of Qeynos which is not going to be ideal for meeting up with others your level -- it's just simply not that popular of an area. If you were around Freeport or on Faydwer I believe you'd find more groups.
That said, true, it's top heavy, but there are still plenty of new players around. Hell I'm not new but I play my necro untwinked because, well, it's a necro, and I've grouped with plenty of other non-twinks. And that's another thing -- just do yourself a favor and make your first class on p99 something that can adapt to your schedule and what's available -- something that can solo and group. Bonus points for being able to farm later (which helps address point 3).
And further on point 3, if you can eventually take good camps with relevant items you can start to catch up in plat relevancy. You don't have to catch up with static plat camps like seafuries.
The raid scene... That's just EQ man. It's classic
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