I just wanted to comment on the gold sink issue. I really don't think buying hp/mana is a good idea unless the server is specifically balanced for it, and this one isn't (and for good reasons).
I also dislike the idea of AoE weapon consumables. This may be just me, but I just really don't like consumable items (such as arrows for example, not consumables used outside of combat like pickaxes - those are fine) because whenever I use them I feel like I'm wasting money, and whenever I don't I feel like I'm gimping myself. It's always a lose-lose situation and I try to avoid them as much as possible. I don't think I'm the only one who feels like this due to the fact that almost every decent custom OT removes for example consumable arrows and even runes. Plus allowing every vocation to deal big AoE damage (with weapons in this case) may cause imbalance.
What I would do is just add a repair system, where when you die your items become gradually damaged (without lowering their stats or anything of the sort) so when they break you have to pay gold to fix them. However I acknowledge the fact that some people will find this annoying, so this may not be the best idea.
Some people enjoy gambling, this obviously can work as a money sink.
Finally, I believe one of the better solutions to this is to allow players to buy, indirectly, experience, for example by buying temporary equipment or buffs that boost your experience gain, or by paying to temporarily enter an arena where the experience gain is much higher than normal (but without any loot drops).
Anyways, there are plenty of different ways to solve this. I'd just look at successful online games and draw ideas from there. Just make sure you know the long term implications of whatever it is you may add. For example, while selling HP/mana may be a nice idea short term, eventually this can lead to a huge imbalance between players (unless, again, your server is specifically balanced for this, like OTChaos was).
P.S.: I'm glad you're taking a more serious approach to the development of the server this time around.
P.P.S: I agree with Blinkz about XDC being a good server but too 'advanced' for the Open Tibia community. For some reason people in the OT community don't seem to like new things... the most popular servers are the ones that people are the most used to, i.e. RL servers and high exp custom servers. It has always been this way (with some rare exceptions) and chances are it will always be.
the tutorial on it is funny as hell. lol
