I started playing around the beginning of April so I came late. I can honestly say even though most of the higher levels have played since the start, some also came late. If you have not started yet and plan on it take my advice and don't do any tasks until level 101. At 101 the experience rate drops to 3x from grinding and that is when you should hand in/act on the bigger tasks since you will need it the most.
All in all, there is a few active GM's that seem to keep botting to a minimum. I have not searched for rune makers so I don't know if a lot of people use auto loggers, but there is for sure A LOT of active players. If you log in and walk into Thais or Venore or even Edron's depot you will see for yourself. Not to mention almost every spawn is packed with people both friendly and hostile. It is the closest feeling to old school I have ever had, period. Tibianic doesn't compare only because of the amount of actives online.
Seriously though, we need the old unjustified kill system, and either hire a real mapper since we all know you can afford it, or just get "Staina" the fuck out of the game. It is a joke of a map man, and since this is supposed to be a long term based server we can't be having that. Golden Legs quest has got to go as well as 50k cash reward.
Last but not least, PoI -- Either make your own sprites or change it to real spawns. Rogue Gamemasters and Old Widows, come on.