newbie questions from someone that is new to eq1ish..

[Eternalnoob]

Hello finnaly got a pc after mine broke down and i have everything installed so i can actually play now and have a few questions

1) looks like i have a level 6 druid named stormsara is a druid good for someone thats new to eq1 and has no money or anything?

2) in being new i really mean i played when kunark was live until i think the moon xpac but i made a gazillion alts never got anything above 50 and had no clue what the f i was doing. beings that, any good solid piece of advice for someone like me?

3) i thought i read there was a global chat channel? how would i go about accessing that?

4) lastly is there a date on when the velious expansion is coming out? that would be the expansion i mostly remember from back in the day.


Thank you for any input and or advice.