To all the people starting from scratch..

[Danth]

Of course you can start from scratch. It's probably the best time to do so! I started in Oct 2009 when P1999 opened. No twinks then, and nobody to hand down nice but unwanted Kunark weapons, either.

Level 1: attack decaying skeletons for cloth armor and the occasional cracked staff.
Level 6: had 5 or 6PP, bought a "broadsword" from a vendor. 6/32 much nicer than 4/29 newbie sword.
Level 10: managed to save up enough for a set of banded from a guy training his smithing.
Level 14: bought a combine long sword, can finally hit wisps.
Level 18ish: bought set of bronze armor off some higher-level Mages soloing Sol-B.
Level 24: still using combine long sword. Melee life was rough!
Level 27 grouped Shin Lord, obtained Ghoulbane. Used it as primary weapon all the way to 50.
Level 50: Reached 50 before Sol Ro quests were added. Was guildless but remember guilds at the time attacking Nagafen with their melees still wearing bronze.

-------> a couple years later:

I decide to retire the Paladin in favor of leveling my Shadow Knight (R.L. priorities changed) and buy the SK a Noctivagant Blade right from the start: Don't much feel like using vendor weapons into the 20's again. Once was enough!

One difference between then and now, I think, is that with only classic and most folks not at the level cap there were groups in nearly all the main dungeons throughout the day. I figure the better gear out there now compensates for higher difficulty in finding groups, especially in the middle levels.

Danth