Returning player, state of endgame?

[jwargod]

Heya, was flirting with the idea of getting back into EQ but hesitant if certain things are still the way they were.

Is the endgame still extremely cut-throat? I mean i don't plan on hitting Vulak or so anytime soon, but I'm wondering if its so bad that certain raiders will loot corpses just so no one else can get the rot, or spawns/loot are held for ransom, including RMT. I guess mainly what I'm asking is if I'll ever see the light of day on certain epics or even being able to loot armor rots in ToV or elsewhere.