My advice:

For your first Age II server, don't spend any money and just practice. There are so many differences and the start is very critical. Age II has been around for a couple of years, so most players have experience with these differences. You need to learn to use facebook for gifts and buffs, how to maximize the 72 hour double build, uprgading gear and farming gems. Combat mechanics are a little different and autohealing is a big difference as well, but those are easy adjustments. More importantly the game is driven by controlling territory through Historic Cities.

Once you have played around and have a feel for the differences, then play the next server seriously. And if you want to spend money, you will know how to use it efficiently.