Old salt looking to replay the glory days

[Fenriswulf]

Hey all, I used to play back when the game first came out, bought all the expansions up to Kunark I think (or Vellious, I can't remember which one was the later one?), but eventually dropped it for DAOC as my entire guild moved over to that. I used to play a Troll warrior, and Human Paladin, but had an immense amount of alt-itis. I tried going hardcore on Vallon Zek PvP, but soloing as a Barbarian Rogue on a server where you couldn't wear decent gear due to looting rules made it really tough going.

I am wondering what is a good class to start with to get me going on this server? I love melee classes, but I know how hard they can be starting out with no resources. What is a good class I can play to get on my feet for any following characters? I was thinking an Erudite Mage, because I have never played Mage before, and I prefer to have good aligned characters (makes hand-overs of goods easier). Any other recommendations?

Am I also correct to learn that there is no racial XP penalties in the game any more? So a Troll Warrior will level as fast as say a Human Warrior? Just wanting to know in case I decide to go for a different race for a character.

Thanks for all your help!