Welcome back! I too am a "returnee". In the old days Healestra 60 Elder and Silkee 60 Ninja, 55 Enchanter, 45 Wiz etc. But these days my main is Arataee currently a 32 Monk.
The hustle and bustle of the old days is gone, but there are still lots of activity, at least on the CLW server. With Boon of Hagley, sold in Freeport etc., you get a huge xp booster (4x normal xp) and its lasts a long time, maybe 12 hours or so, haven't timed it. Thats mostly how I level to 32, just put Boon on and go to it, the spell costs only 1000 tunar.
Most people seem pretty decent, theres the usual braggarts, thieves, account stealers just like the old days but most folks are pretty good and are fun to xp with.
Hope this helps a bit, and again, welcome back.