'New' returning player

Hi all, I used to play here when it was Molten, but since losing my character I sort of lost interest for a long while. I was thinking I might pick back up on the WoTLK servers this time around (played Cata before), so I just have a few quick questions -

- I am thinking I want to play either a Spriest or a rogue (mainly PvE) .. How do they fare in raids and dungeons?
- How hard is it to get into raids / dungeons if i don't know many people on the server? I mean, i know people always used to try to look for like 5k gs for PoS or something like that which is ridiculous
- Finally, is there any significant difference between Lord and Icecrown? Obviously the experience levels, but the community is what I'm talking about. Do more experienced players tend to choose one server over the other, or will you find your share of nubs and pros in each?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hello , there ! Good to see people come back !

Now about your concerns...
1) If you want to focus on pve rogues will always do amazing dps , it is designed that way by blizzard pretty much ( all pure dps classes are among the best dps in the game ) but in terms of raid utility I don't think there is much to say about that , they have big lack of utility sooo you will only rely on dps alone , in terms of survavibility id say its mediocore . Now spriests I cant say much about them , they have some kind of raid utility , survavibility maybe mediocore and dps id say its in the middle .
2)Since their isn't RDF on Lord gearing is a bit hard .. also 5 mans are buffed aswell , which means you will see a lot of people in global chat requiring 3.5-3.8 gs , but that's the way it is . You may find it frustrating when you hit 80 'cus mostly you will be with nothing left to do but to grind normal dungeons or do wintergrasp , also VoA is buffed soo .. you will need some heroic gear to be able to do it . Naxx 10 was nerfed 2 weeks ago but you will still need heroic gear to pugg . My recommendation is as soon as you hit 80 search for a guild , this will boost your gearing over 9000 , just ask guildies to help you clear heroics and it will be much easier to get some good gear so you can start raiding . And finally I suggest , for gearing , to get proffesions which suit the needs for your class/spec . For instance plate users go blacksmithing/mining , leather users leatherworking and the list goes on and on ...
3. Hmmm the community in both realms is good ( there aren't much *****s besides Lord elitist jerks , but don't worry about that they are not that many and mostly are in guilds , Icecrown has more "casuals" or people who just don't like leveling or are bored of it , I don't want to offend anyone with what I said . Now mostly hardcore players and pros .. :D choose Lord 'cus of the harder raids .. Now I don't say there aren't noobs in Lord , both have their fare share of new people to the game , but mostly the strict hardcore players tend to choose Lord over Icecrown , but with this that doesn't mean that some hardcore players don't play at Icecrown at all . My overall sense of the community is that most people are very nice and eager to help , I said mostly , and also both servers have people , both hardcore and casuals , but as I said before more hardcore players on lord , more casuals on Icecrown .
I hope this long long article will help you ! Lok'Tar friend ! :)

I really appreciate the long and detailed response.. Makes me wanna come back more than I had originally. Im thinking i'll play on Lord because the 'progressive' server seems really cool - not to mention Icecrown always seems to have a 90000 person queue.

Just one more question
Since I used to play Cata, i'm not too up to date on Lord. What is considered 'good' dps in WoTLK?
For example, in Cata you should be doing something like 20k sustained dps on a dummy to get into Dragon Soul raid, but fully geared people could hit things like 40k dps in 10 mans and things like that.
What does the sustained dps look like in WoTLK?
It may be a weird question, but any help is appreciated

It really depends on the content that is released , of course , but don't bother with that , people will ask you for gs 100% of the time when they make pugs or heroic dungeon groups , so don't worry . This also applies to guilds . Dps isn't that big of a matter in wow and especially on warmane , since the raids are buffed , people tend to relly on skill and knowing the mechanics then dps alone , this is true , at least for me .
Cheers!