I started my character I think the first month the server went up and a lot has changed between then and now, I have always been a very casual off and on player sometimes not playing for up to a year and wanted to review some recent content for people considering starting here or coming back. There has been some really awesome additions and you should not think there is no way you could catch up to other players. I also highly recommend you look into the customized content there is far too much to explain in a single post.
Top 3 reasons why you should start playing again.
#1 Instances and event zones:
This is a major game changer for new or returning players. There have been daily instances added that you may complete once per day and specialized events you can also complete for free once before required to reset them with GC, you may think needing to reset them with gift coins is unfair but it is because those particular events have chances of great rewards so think of it as paying to play the lottery. Other than rewards for these events and daily instances you will gain a large amount of soul experience and experience and being able to reset them means weather you farm to gain GC or donate for it this is a fast means of catching up or helping you if you are totally grinded out on hunting the same zones.
#2 Updates to noob or tier 1 relevent zones/bosses:
Zajako has put in great effort to make these zones more user friendly and doable for newer players so you should have no problem leveling and solo hunting. After logging in I was able to hunt zones I could not before that really had put my grinding under a rock and discouraged me in the thought i needed potentially thousands of gift coins worth of gear but that has also changed.
#3 Changes to the economy are in the new players favor!
The last time I had stopped playing everything was very expensive for example Zelin, The Holy Blade was no less than 9,000gc and as of now there is one for 1,700gc. This is good news for you because as you progress and things become challenging you will start collecting event/loyalty/s80grade/Xgrade gear that has good stats and of utmost importance damage reduction. Some of these things are 1/10th of the cost they used to be so you can get the gear you need to progress and tier very cheaply.
Those are the top 3 changes that can help you get started again, after coming back and playing after all the new content I am re-addicted to lineage 1.5 and feel more confident in catching up with the server.
If you have any more positive content to add for new or returning players to see feel free to add it. Help the server grow.
Here is a link to topics or information you may be looking for such as levels, tiers, zones, items and more. L1.5 Guide - Newbie/Return players MUST read [contest]