Brand new to p1999 and EQ

[steakology]

Hail!

Allow myself to introduce myself.
I just installed and started to play p1999 and I'm very happy to be here. I'm 28 years old and was just a middle school aged kid when Everquest hit the scene. I was a diehard old school Ultimate Online player who was pretty true to the UO/EQ rivalry. The only time I ever played EQ was for a few moments walking around Halas back in the late 90's, and that's literally the full extent of my abilities in Everquest.
Fast forward to present day where I was searching for a casual but nostalgic game (preferably an MMO or RPG) and the lightbulb went off to try the "other" game that I shunned as a youngin' and here I am.

That is the short end of it. I'm happy to be here with what seems to be a great active knowledgable community. Any advice on how to best approach the game would be so appreciated. Last night I was stuck in the lake outside of Halas for a good 15 minutes because I didn't know how to get out, AND I had to google how to get buttons from the small hotbar to the big hotbar - so bear with me a bit hehe.

As far as play style, I prefer melee classes that can both solo and grab some groups (Warrior/Paladin maybe?) I don't know that I know the game enough to be a "reliable" tank, so is it possible to be just a DPS warrior in groups? Before I get ahead of myself, just saying that I'm certainly looking to exploring this game and discovering what Everquest has to offer and what it, and the p1999 community is all about!

Cheers everyone, and I hope to meet some of y'all in game !