I'm much more nervous about doing it on EQ1 than on EQ2, but yes. It feels like you're just 'hanging it out there' doing anything in an open zone where somebody else could come up and see you, or do something to mess with your characters in an unexpected way. Now, instances - that's a different story - albeit they aren't entirely safe either (on EQ2 I've been banned a few times, and seen how GMs will spend hours tracking down every account you have - every account from the same IP, every account you ever gave anything of value to - and no, I'm not talking about dupes or the like - I'm talking about characters that were just running to instances, doing them, zoning out and back in).
That's the double edged sword as I see it - you can build your character faster, but you always are at risk of losing it all.
Edit: Just to expound a bit more on why the difference between the games - on EQ2 almost all content is instanced, there are overlands, but you don't really do much in them beyond the first week of an expansion - they just exist as a means to travel between the instance entrances. Also, when you buy the expansion you are granted a character that is boosted in level with the expansion purchase and are usually max level in 30 minutes - it's all about gear, not levels. That means it's a lot easier to 'start over' again if needed.
