Brand New to EQ -- lots of questions!

[Honorata]

Hi everyone! I'm Honor and I am a genuine, never played before, newb to Everquest. I've played more modern MMOs and wanted to experience what the earliest MMOs were like. I haven't fully committed to playing here yet (haven't installed or anything), but I have some questions before I settle down to get started.

* Will I be able to find leveling groups?

-- I work weird hours, and mostly would only be able to play very late at night (starting at midnight or 1AM Eastern US). Are people playing then on red/blue? Would I be able to find people to level with? I'm nervous about getting stuck at a low level because the servers are dead when I normally would be able to play.

-- On a related note, what is considered a "normal" amount of time to spend grinding levels per day? If I can only stay with a leveling group for 2-3 hours would I end up having trouble finding groups?

* What class should I play?

--Generally, I prefer to play healers in the other MMOs I've played. (I play a holy paladin & restoration shaman on live/official WoW, and I played a Combat Medic for the 3-4 months I played SWTOR.) My understanding is that if I want to play a healer in EQ, I'd want to play a Cleric, but I don't want to ignore other classes that people might need, or that I might find fun.

I have never played a support/offheal class, but this style of play also interests me. (I'm more interested in buffing my friends than debuffing my enemies.)

Should I consider other classes & if so which ones? Or is cleric the way to go?

* Red or Blue?

-- How bad is low level ganking on Red? Does on-death EXP loss also occur when you're killed by another player? Is everywhere a flagged zone on Red, or are there safe places? Do townsfolk get mad if someone murders someone else in a city? When someone kills you, they can just loot your coin, not your gear with Red's ruleset, right? Do you just leave your coin in the bank in town or???

-- Red seems a lot lower population than Blue. How hard is it to find leveling groups on Red, particularly if you play weird hours?

* Will a guild adopt a newb like me and answer my questions?

-- I'm a slow leveler, but I aim to be a kind and sincere person! Please tell me I will be able to find a home.