[Baa]

I have 3 chars now all fully geared with the highest being 43, now for most of that gear I have either camped it myself or traded up to be able to afford it (as well as some kindness from people I have met).

Nobody is stopping you from playing the game how you want to play it. Personally I enjoy twinking up a char and being a total badass - plus I know it helps me get past that akward stage up until the mid teens where class differences really start to matter instead of spending weeks grinding around ec which all of us have done a million times.

I have never been in a group where people have frowned on an under geared player, really in almost all circumstances a good player will always compensate for it. However a crap player no matter how great their gear is another story.