Welcome to the server. You made the right decision coming here! I think the others have answered your questions sufficiently. I'd advise also looking at the
Project 1999 Wiki . Remember that the web sites out there tend to have information for Everquest as it is today (crap) or later than where the server is in its timeline. There are plenty of great resources which can be found throughout the forums which link to cached sites on internet archive etc.
Have fun and see you out there!