I unfortunately can't compare to what the game was like at launch, but I'll try to answer your questions.
You can always just craft some basic gear, if you're unlucky with quest rewards. It's always good to have multiple weapon skill lines leveld up in case you want to switch playstyle/build anywayws. Also you shouldn't really care about what type of armor you're wearing, unless you really have problems surviving - it's good to level up the armor skill lines as well, since you wouldn't want to play DPS in heavy armor later on.
When starting I didn't have any problems at all, everything died rather quick and leveling did not feel slow or boring. It takes a while to unlock every available skill though.
Regarding the cash shop, there is nothing you can buy what you can actually "equip". It's purely cosmetic - Costumes, Mounts, Pets, etc..