I'm glad to hear your excitement about the game hopefully it lasts long enough to get you through enough of the grinding that you keep playing
. As for which server is best I can't really say. If you can make a list of things you need in a server and things that you can't have I'm certain players can point you in the right direction.
I play on Epona currently and what there is to know here is that its a little overpopulated so getting better than average gear can be quite challenging unless you have a lot of gold. (even then it could be tough to find what you're looking for). We roll for drops so anyone can win an item if they're eligible but it also makes it random so your effort does not guarantee you a drop.
Consumables are pretty cheap and you can sell any drop to fund your other expenses. Since anyone can roll it's fairly straightforward to find a clan of people you get along with and there is no penalty to your bossing, so finding great people to play with is not an issue.
As for playing warrior vs mage, I've never been fond of playing the brute but I can't say its bad. I really enjoy mage though I have to say that the two damage options are disappointing as fire simply does more damage than ice. If you care about efficiency as I do then you will just have to play fire. Otherwise, you could enjoy both. Mages have low armour and die the quickest of all classes but it's not unmanageable. We do good damage and have debatably the best group levelling skill in the game, in the form of lures. Depending on the server you choose it may be difficult to get fire mage gear but it may not you'd have to ask specifically.
Warriors do good damage and have the best armour in the game. They aren't as good in groups as mages but they can solo more easily and they are the best tanks.
If you want to try them out before you decide here is some simple advice but for more details, you can look through the subforums or ask. For stats, you can just do 2 vit 3 foc for mage and 2 vit 3 str for a warrior. If you feel like it you can modify it a little if you need more health or if you have more than enough. But before including stats from gear id say this is pretty safe and wouldn't deviate too much.
For skills as a mage, if you want to go ice than you'll need ice shards, ice blast ice attunement maxed and a half of ice lure. Also, put points into firebolt if you can and always use it. For fire use Firebolt, firestorm, fire attunement, half lure of fire and ice shards if you can. Firestorm is a tricky skill to get and if you can't just use ice shards until you get it.
For warrior damage skills are pummel, double attack, shatter and rupture to start. If you want to survive easier protective stance is also good and while frenzy may look tempting I think to start it is generally best to use protective stance.
Feel free to ask if you want more info but I think its best to try playing a little before thinking too much about everything. The last thing I suggest is don't buy any armour with gold when you start. Always use the quest armour. Never buy a shop weapon as a mage and ask before you get a new warrior weapon. I really like the obsidian weapons for warriors but really any otherworld weapon should do as long as you get it when you reach the level to equip it. In general, be stingy with your gold. You don't need elixirs until after level 60 and really you can get away without them until level 130. Do all the daily quests you can (some of them quickly lose their value but you should be able to figure it out pretty easily). Find some players in game who can help you and who you can have fun with(not with gold but with quests and sometimes extra gear they dont need), enjoy the game and good luck.
