Few questions from an outsider

[Danth]

A) It's very easy to join most whatever guild you wish to. One quirk of P99's culture is that even the high-end guilds aren't exclusive. In fact most of them are quite welcoming. Historically they'll take about anyone who wishes to join. That's part of why some of them are so large. The highest-end guilds might have level limits or some basic resist gear goals but that's about the limit of it. Can't speak for "green" of course but there's no reason (yet) to think ten years of server culture is about to change.

B) Dot spells of the same type do not stack. Necromancers are a fine class regardless.

C) Clerics are the same as always. Mediocre to poor for solo, groups like having them and guilds love Cleric mains. No guild has ever had too many Clerics. Shamans are a medium strength class for solo/group content in the old world, and become arguably overpowered in Kunark/Velious. In guilds and raids they're nice but less critical than Clerics for what should be obvious reasons.

D) Smithing is nice for banded initially. Tailoring for bags is also nice. Jewelcrafting is probably the best tradeskill on a fresh server but it's effectively limited to Enchanters and costs a lot to raise.

Danth