Rha-El, this isn't the first time I've heard a story like this. It seems many several legit players have been banned from L2, while there are legions of bots that come in groups of 10, that all run at the same time, sit at the same time, attack at the same time, and have names like "lkjdsafs908" running around week after week month after month with no banning.

I'm definitely going to advise everyone I come across who bring this game up to stay the hell away from it. Everything about it is so backwards. Ban the legit, let the bots stay! Buy a game, use an automated program to play for you! Wow, sounds like a great time to me.

You need to do some leg work to understand the how to work the grind in L2.

http://www.tstonramp.com/~mykel/lineage/ 

and L2 warehouse's grind optimizer

http://l2wh.com/ 

Also effective grouping is key.

You can reduce grind-time a lot by simply hunting the right mobs with the right people. Not all mobs are equal in L2. They may "con" the same or be the same levels but XP varies. Sometimes grinding a group of a certain mob is the wrong thing to be doing. Difficulty is also NOT an indicator of XP reward in L2. A mob may be difficult but that doesn't mean it will award more XP and vice versa. As I have said many times over the years, L2 was created by sadist. Players who get cooked by the grind early on assume the math works the same like other MMO's. Thats not the case with L2.

The most common mistakes new L2 players make

• They try to solo throughout. Although you can get pretty far in L2 soloing (some classes are viable soloers throughout) Soloing will pummel your brain to jelly. L2 is built on a very strong grouping dynamic in both PvE and PvP. Everything interlocks and nothing is stand alone. This one here is the undoing of most new players. 
• They assume all mobs of the same level are equal in XP value. (well, they're not)
• They feel they can't compeat with other players because they don't have "the best gear". True to a point but early on having the best gear is not as important. "D grade" while necessary to have good gear, not paramount to have "top D grade" gear. You can get through D grade with mid quality items enabling you to save for C grade. This is especially true if you are guilded or group alot. D grade is a waste as it goes to fast and gear cost to much to worry about getting top.
• They assume they can sustain themselves by grinding alone and don't use / understand the economy. Soul shots are deliberately put in to drain away any grind income. They are the ultimate money sink. If you have no way of neutralizing the soulshot sink, you will struggle throughout L2. There are only two options to make money in L2, learn and work the market (L2WH is a great tool for that) use all the resources ingame like the manor system or the Seven Signs, monthly events or go RMT (but that goes for any game that players try to bypass using / learning the economy).

I haven't played in a long while but I imagine not much has changed. People still bitchin about the grind and the bots but demonstrate no understanding of how the game works. Play it how you want, if you believe botting is the only way, then that is what it will be for you. If you believe RMT is the only answer, then it is for you. If you insist on trying to lonewolf L2 (forcing a square peg into a round hole) then you are not going to be able to make it work and you can blame the game.