Yearlong Hiatus!

Hi Southperry, I've been away from Maplestory for about a year or two and I'm wondering if now is the best time to get back in.
I'm making a new account, maybe on Nova or the likes for a fresh start to get back into the feel properly.
Are there any events going on at the moment, aside from the marvel machine, I'm curious if I still get equip boxes at each 10
levels? That really helps save mesos and time, and just extremely convenient overall.
I also believe that maybe a Bishop would be the best class to level up as first character? Or should I work on the Cygnus Knight
or maybe a new (fundless) class you could recommend? Are Demonslayers available for selection still? I believe the last class before I came out was Luminous.
Is Zero a good beginners pick?
Lots of questions, sorry I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could answer any of them.

The 9th Anniversary Event is winding down. The coin shop is still available but there is no good way to get Leaves to trade in for coins without spending a significant amount of meso.

Are you talking about Tot's Know-How? He still gives boxes of equipment from 20-60, at every 10 level interval. I've heard that he can be glitchy at times, though.

I have no comments on which character you should make first, but yes, Demon Slayers should still be available for creation. Zero is currently unavailable to be made, but I do think it can be a decent starter character. The Zero quest line is all dungeons and quests until 180, but you have to run through a dungeon multiple times to get to the next dungeon sometimes.