Levelling isn't really that slow, but it does take some careful thought and exploration, you have to actually seek out the dungeons that work to your playstyle. Lash, my cleric, is Level 7 and barely three months old, and only one of those months have actually involved gaining XP because the RP xp system is getting fixed, or revised, or whatever. She's a cleric, so maybe she doesn't count?
Lance, on the other hand was my pure fighter, He got to level 9 in two months. I've got a lot of experience with the server as a four year player, so I can pick and choose the dungeons to suit my chars and their abilities. Tagging along with higher levels is awesome, but if you really want fast progression and can't find a party, ask someone with experience where they would reccomend you go with what you do have. Risk vs reward is not so bad on this server, as long as you search for placed that provides you, or your group, with low-med risk.
Secondary advice: Do deliveries, earn money, buy disposables, use them, they'll improve your abilities two or three times over, gotta spend money to make money, y'know? When it comes to dungeoning, the point is to kill the NPCs before they kill you, buy potions, varnishes, increase your damage output, just don't expect to start making money from dungeoning until you don't need these things to clear a dungeon.