You're also coming from the perspective of an experienced player.
You already know how to fight, who you should avoid, how to stay alive longer. You also know what equipment is worth buying and when.
Why should a new player be punished for wanting to experiment?
That's a good point. Having come from Native and just entering cRPG there were alot of new weapons and armor to get used to both using and fighting against. Just completed Gen 1 and I bought a shitload of stuff just to try it out. Of course picking up items off the ground is a decent way to give things a shot too. But most times you just wanna buy something so you can try it out longer than one spawn.
I currently wear less than 25k gear, and still the only way to make money is to have my repairs turned off. There are some tough guilds out there that I usually end up fighting against, which of course causes a nice roll of x1's. =) Not complaining at all - I know that's how it is starting out.