General Questions

I have been looking at starting this game for a month now but I am not sure if I want to make the leap yet. I got some general questions that I am curious about. None of this is asked to cause drama but out of sheer curiosity.

Is this game friendly to people who work and have families? I see that this version of the game has a lot of afk options but the quests seem to be long and have no QOL options like the other version does.

How important is doing all the quests if I want to do boss fights? Are quests content for people who care about lore only? Or are all players forced to interact with that specific content? I am not really a lore focused player and if I need to do a hundred plus hours of quests to play the game that would not really be ideal.

Why does this version of the game have a fraction of the player base of the other? Is this version dying? Is there still updates? I got really into another MMO that ended up being taken down because of the dwindling playerbase I am not trying to suffer the same fate.

If I do give this game a try would you suggest making a normal account or an ironman? I feel like the game is very old and I will never be able to compete or play with veterans. Would it be better to start an ironman to compete only with myself?

Does anyone have any opinions to sway me to or away from the game? I am just trying to learn as much as possible before I invest possibly hundreds of hours into something.