Sounds very similar to me - had about 10 alts none of whom i took over 15 or so
Nipped in at the tail end of B1 (I work for the previous publishers - OK, stop the booing and hissing
) It's def a game that is more fun played with people you know though. Yes you can solo or do pick up groups but the fun is getting killed with friends...
If you've not played for a couple of months things have moved on a lot - it's more of a playable game now, B2 / 2.5 was just hard work and boring as hell. Qalia's the place to start at the moment as for lvl 1-20 it's the most complete, albeit still with large bits missing.