Tips for leveling:
1. NEVER LEVEL ALONE
2. NEVER LEVEL ALONE
3. NEVER LEVEL ALONE
Aside from that, here's some other tips
1. Never level alone - find a buddy. Make a buddy. Go back to quests you've finished, and oh noez, you might have to help them catch up to you.
a. Most gank squads just want to an easy solo kill. Even having 2 or 3 buddies will sometimes deter people enough
b. It can suck on some OA quests to be in a group, but suck it up. Most quests are kill quests go sooo much faster with multiples
c. Things dying faster = you getting hit less. You'll have more HP if you get PVP attacked
d. Things dying faster = you don't have to use all your fancy cooldowns every mob to not die. You'll have more tools if you get PVP attacked
2. Overachieve the fuck out of everything. Do it. Now. I think I've skipped maybe 2 or 3 quests total (now 48) from OA'ing. Most you should do it. Why?
a. You're already there killing/clicking shit. No time lost moving between hubs
b. You're in your group right? Safety in numbers. Again, no time lost finding buddies
c. You'll be that much higher for later zones
3. As ganking gets worse, fight in lower zones you haven't done yet. Go in order. Silent Forest -> Yny -> Halcy -> Hellswamp -> Sandeep -> Rockborne -> Windscour -> Perinoor -> Hasla -> Karaksaraifawiefar
a. You'll be higher level than the regular shits in the zone. You'll want any advantage you can get for gank squads
4. If at all possible, hunt in peacetime zones. This is why zones go to peacetime - so gankers can't completely stall people leveling
5. Level in crafting. There are crazy awesome ways to level crafting/gathering, but you do NOT have to get fancy. Vocation pot (cheap on AH I hear, or marketplace) + mining, or making easy shit (logs -> lumber, stone -> stone brick, ore -> bars) will get you a little over a level per hour typically.
So, yeah, gank squads suck ass, but you can still make progress at almost any time. After that, play smarter. No, it's not the WoW model, and the world is semi-EQ/UO in that it requires you to be social and embrace the MM part of MMO. It's not for everyone.