So, my brother and I have been playing since about 2000, 2001. Last year our sister decided to give it a try after years of ridiculing us for playing it.
We gave her gold for a house, and advice when she asked for it (which hasn't been often). She plays it more than we do for the past year, even if she can't "do" half of the high end content (be that fighting mobs, crafting, PvPing....though from the start she has not shied away from PvP). The nitty gritty specifics (especially when it comes to crafting and fine tuning character training) can be difficult to pick up, even for vets.
The thing is, there is SO much you can do. The game, even today, is very unstructured. To some, that is intimidating, as there is not a clear path to "leveling." For a noob just starting out, I would suggest going to a medium-medium/high population shard (Lake Superior, Catskills, Chesapeake, Great Lakes) and try a few types of characters out. See what seems fun right off the bat. Look into who the bigger guilds are (maybe use the shard forums here on Stratics as a guide) and see what they are like and think about joining one. The nice thing about being in a guild(s) is you can still play solo when you want, but you'll make friends and have people who will help you out along the way.
Thirteen years later, there are still things I haven't done. Like make a bard. I've never made a bard. So perhaps tonight I will.