Help a noob with questionsFollow

I have played other MMOs, and now finally started with EQ2. I will say that I am enjoying it, but I still have some questions that need to be answered for me to enjoy the game even more.

1. I still can't complete the "Seeking a Profession" quest in Qeynos. I am level 11, and still have no idea how to complete this quest.

2. Is there any place that I can get a guide to tradeskills? Since I have not done the quest yet, I am feeling a little scared about starting a tradeskill.

3. In other MMOs, there is a lot of "general" chat going on. I have yet to see any player chat. Is this the way it is? Or, what can I do to change this? The only text I have seen from real players is 1 /tell, and twice a speech bubble.

4. How do you get those items that have little green stats to them? Are they only quest rewards?

5. Is the economy only NPC based? In other MMOs I have played, there was an Auction House. Is there something like that in EQ2?

I thank all in advance for helping a noob to the EQ2 world.