Noob take on the game.....update and questions

well I have been playing the game a couple of weeks now (and love it) and found that while I thought at first some classes were inferior to another....its all in how you play them. If you play each one to their strengths they all kick butt

I originally was playing the Lore Master like a champion and got my butt kicked! But when I realized its best to stand off and cast spells and do damage that way, the spider cave was survivable as well as everything else. Same with the Hunter. Also I took a chance and investigate the Minstrel and I love it!.....I have a little bald hobbit who runs around and yells at things and kills them and a tough little bugger with an axe and sword too!

I have not taken any character past level 8 yet, as I have been doing what I imagine is a typical noob thing or creating characters , running them, not knowing how to run them, trashing them...starting over I must have had 20 characters (toons?) before I settled on the four I have...all level 8 and now all on the big map ready to explore

I have:

Human Warden Lv8
Elf Hunter Lv8
Dwarf Champion Lvl 8
Hobbit Minstrel Lv 8

I spread them ut like that so I could play differing classes and differing parts of the map on a whim


Questions

1. I tried running the burglar but I didn't quiet see the point, to be honest I didn't take it very far, but if once you attack you become visible you are suddenly and under armored light duty champion. I have not yet experienced group play so I imagine that takes a part

2. I Don't see a lot of rune keepers out there...are they good to play, I don't want to spend too much gold on the game if it won't be fun

3. Does the game devolve into miniquests at this point rather than the more structured play that the first section was?

4. what is the likelihood of a limited time player being part o9f a group (fellowship, kinship whatever...yeah I have a lot to learn)

5 What should I be looking for or focusing on in the next few levels, I don't want to miss anything

6. What Balrog do I have to kill to get out of this spam dumpster that is the noobie forum :p can somebody free me PLEASE??


and finally a comment, unlike other online games I have played, I had reason to contact customer service and they were very responsive and helpful, I mistakenly deleted a character I wanted (and bought a horse for) and they quickly answered and restored it...thanks guys

I still play my level 100 LM like a champion. It's not so hard to do at higher levels when you have enough heals so your staff can finish battles quicker. Not everybody does it that way though.

1) Yes burgs become visible after striking, but that first stealth strike should do a big chunk of damage so it's not a big deal. Some skills do more damage when stealthed or from behind. The skill tooltip will tell you.

4) Plenty of limited time players around. Plenty of kinships (long-term guilds) and fellowships (short-term groups to beat a quest) should be available for you.

5) If you don't miss anything, you'll soon find yourself outlevelling your quests. There's more quests in the game than are needed to level up. If you want to experience everything on level, you'll need to buy a Tortoise Stone to stop xp gain every so often. 100 Turbine Points in the store. If you don't mind being overpowered compared to everything around you, don't worry about it.