We could always go back to ventrilo servers for voice chats! I miss hopping into vent with my WoW guild for raids back in the day.

Yes, it’s a very complex game to learn. The skill gems took a while to get used to. https://www.poe-vault.com/guides/beginner-leveling-guide-for-path-of-exile was a good start for me. I recommend just jumping into a character class that looks fun and playing for a bit without worrying about your build. This explains the classes pretty well: https://pathofexile.fandom.com/wiki/Character_class

After getting used to the mechanics, I just followed a build guide and that helped a lot.