Update for returning player

Plex

Hi all,
i was thinking about returning to live servers. Last time i played on them was around 2008. My templated Eldritch is missing some resistances now, which where on cap back in 2008. No idea why. Also my tartaros is missing.
Many things have change, i guess.
What do i need to know to get back into the game?
How do i temp and lvl my character the fastest (what is the normal rate to buy plats and what does a template cost nowadays?)
Are there any must-haves? I have heard the dragon raid is mandatory for some reason.
What new stats or cap extensions have been introduced? Why are my artifacts gone?
A short summary to get up-to-date would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Plex

ISPY4ever

I will post here as a returning player too. I had several temped BiS gear chars back in 2009. All those temps are worthless now. The King in the main city hands out a complete set of "new" epic armor and offers 50/veterans all trinkets, rings all all the for free. This set is usually better than any temp from back then and is like a starter-weaponless temp. I was mildly shocked to see that my several 100 plat temp from back then was outperformed by free 50/veteran items. Procs, stats, mythic cap+ and what not, it was all better.

For any new player: You can get those items for free at 50. Champion levels will increase the stats even further and you get a super good cloak at CL15 (just have to capture 1tower/keep to get credit)

A temp is now farmed primarely with bounty points. We don't have to raid for it. We can, but it's not necessary anymore. All items can be bought in the HZ too, but it will cost 100's of plats again to temp an old char to its "old" power level.

This hurts quite a bit and I don't see me farming an other 700p for temping my main again...
But that's a personal thing.