As I see it, we are very new-player friendly. The current Christmas Quests provide players with a viable means of an aura without having to wait to vote extensively. We have tons of questable headgears that are helpful in PvP, including most of the quests included in the integrated headgear questline (guide can be found on the forums). Voting Rewards/Event Rewards make up for the rest of the possible headgears you may want. Forsaken Soldier Equipment as your armor is a good first step (guide can also be found on the forums) and you can gain access to weapons by following through with the elite equipment quests. While it is true that most donation items are some of the top items in there class, WoE is also a viable means of items which are extremely useful. There are many paths to take in which you can begin to build your assortment of items. I recommend being active with questing for items to better your gear and being involved in a WoE guild which shares WoE drops or can provide help with you in means of either items or advice. Questing consumable which people may want is also a good means of making money. Just see what works for you, there certainly are a large number of ways to further yourself within our server! Never hesitate to ask for help.
