I have a leveling guild of returning players much like yourself. We have mains and alts between levels 10 and 50 (no max level characters) and generally try to group up to do dungeons and help each other out on quests and stuff. Feel free to look me up on one of my alts for an invite or more info. My guild was an EQ live guild and we also had a presence in WoW, EQ2, VG and ESO. We plan to move to Pantheon as a guild when it goes live (or possibly in alpha/beta). I think you will find we have some very friendly and helpful people in the guild that are fun to group with.
As for your questions..I wouldn't level a character solely for making plat unless you plan on playing that character. That being said..I did level a druid to 35 but more for the utility of being able to port guildies around and as GL it's convenient to be able to travel to invite people to guild or help move items/players between continents etc...
With a guild on the server dedicated to porting (Dial A Port) I don't think earning plat from porting is as reliable as you might think. When I set out to do it I frequently can't find anyone who needs a port. Other times when I'm not even looking to do it I get tells or see OOC messages from people needing ports and I make some plat. So it's possible but seems very inconsistent (not to mention boring).
For earning plat you can probably do just as well playing the game and focusing on getting money items as you level. Level in FoB and collect bone chips (sells for 10p/stack). Level in EC/WC and collect deathfist belts (sells for 3-5p/ea). Level in HPH and collect orc scalps (sells for 10p/ea). Level in HK and collect ears (sells for 25-30p/ea). Level in SolA (tons of FS/bronze/ore to vendor). Level in Crystal Caverns (Geonids drop gems that sell for 50-150p/ea).
As for the Iksar Shaman I won't lie. You are going to be inconvenienced. One of my officers in guild has a 51 Iksar Shaman and banking and stuff on other continents is a PITA. Not too bad if you are in a guild though. You can easily get help selling and traveling to minimize the pain but it's not a minor inconvenience. Iksar Monk and Necro don't have it nearly as bad thanks to FD and skeli illusion.
You can get some weight reduction bags to help with the struggle. There are also ways to get faction in other places and there are various merchants that you can sell to (LS/SFM druid rings for example).
My Iksar monk is amiable to NFP guards and apprehensive with NFP bards giving me almost free reign in the zone and though bankers are still KOS I can bank through the wall. It takes a bit of work but it's doable and sorta fun. Let me know if you want more details on that. Also, most of our original members on P99 started as Iksar so we are very familiar with and fully support the Iksar struggle. You will find aid and comfort in that struggle in the guild. My officer only rolls Iksar characters...sort of a weirdo.
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