New Ogre, want to group with people

[Meriakh]

This is my first time playing everquest in probably 15 years. Hoping to get on here to have a good time and meet some people. I'm also fairly new to everything EQ seeing as it's been so long, so was hoping to find out some things.

I noticed i have only 8 bag slots. Can I get more? Am I missing something obvious here?

How do I actually talk to people in game? As in, talk to global, etc. I was hoping I could chat while I'm slaying spiderlings and such.