I've been considering trying the game out again but I haven't played it in years. I've missed all the expansions and I didn't even have a max level character when I stopped playing. I once tried to go back and level my character up, but the world was completely empty so completing events was nigh impossible.
Is that still a problem? If I come back, try a new character, will the world be empty? Are there any kind of catch-up mechanics? Character boosts?