go ahead and come back man. You'll find there are alot of players coming back after a long absence(just search these forums for example).
I play on Fennin Ro and the population isn't bad. However the low lvl grouping is a lil harder to find, mid lvl is pretty good and then i see a bunch of high end gamers lfg. The game has taken a direction to accomidate high end players. low & mid lvl toons have limited places to go for xp.
Ldon's still have advantages, xp sucks for the time put in but they are still fun and a few have pretty decent loot. STAY AWAY FROM MONSTER MISSIONS(mm's)!! don't use them to grind xp or AA's please. alot of peeps who do many mm's dont learn there class and don't build up their skills, which makes for players you don't want to group with outside of mm's. i.e. Tanks who can't keep aggro over anyone with few hps and skills. just one example, i could go on but im not.
Do your account a favor and get EVERQUEST: TITANIUM. it has the first 10 expansions, ge the retail version so you get all the /claim items that come with the expansions. best part, it's only 20 bucks. peeps on my server will be happy to get you updated on small things that you just need to know. like the guild hall, bazaar door, etc... I assume peeps on other servers will be glad to help as well. just explain that you are not a newb and the flaming will be less.
any other questions you might have can be answered here on the forums, either search or just ask.
Anyways, welcome back and GL to you. if you ever need a Beastie on Fennin Ro just look me up. hope this helped.
-Nikolai Killrathe of Fennin Ro`
Officer of Legions of Blackwatch