If it makes you Vets feel any better, I'm not a vet to this game, but I love it here anyway. The graphics are beauitifully done, not to mention I've never seen another game yet with the "day/night" cycle of Istaria. Also the colors are more realistic then say, WoW, and besides, I kinda like the "retro" look this game has.
The crafting actually helps me relax, and helping others build things is a good way to earn coin. The stories in the quests are pretty cool. The mobs are challanging, and you have to actually learn which spells/abilities/weapons work best for which targets, and in which order they should be used for the greatest effect. If a mob is too strong for me right then, I go hunt something else until I get strong enough to fight that first mob, or work on my crafting to make better armor/weapons.
As for groups and powerleveling... Whenever a higher lvl player is grouped with me, I actually seem to get less xp then I would fighting the mob solo. But it is fun to hunt things as a group. The other players I've met so far have been very nice, and helpful.
I actually haven't seen anything worth complaining about in this game so far, and hopefully won't for a long while. Also looking forward to doing my RoP and earning those Adult wings.