Well if you need DnD insights, let me know
I played DnD on and off for about 2 years (I know its nothing compared to people who played it for 20 years), I also designed my own combat/spell system (because I didn't like DnDs) and led a campaign for about a year.
I played EQ1 from 99 to 2004. Early years were probably not the most unproductive, as I knew little, kept changing servers and tried many classes, and during the first year of playing my top char was maybe level 20. But eventually I got into my skull that I had to group to progress, and things started to go better. I was very behind during Classical era - when people were doing Velious raids, I was just getting to lev 45 on my first char, but by 2004 I was in a guild that was doing Vex Thall and trying to take down Ralos Zek (yeah we were behind the top guys who already did Elementals and were doing GoD, but still were in top 10 guilds on the server)