I would ignore the peopele saying yes ........it would take prob 2-3 years to make top 10k as more players quit but the problem is iys only the pkayers in top 10 k gonna be around in a couple years.. unfortunately the game has ran so long that the only realistic goals for new players are high ranking in events and indy wars other than that without spending thousands. .....not hundreds u wont get bc within 2-3years......I probably wont get bc myself either
I'd say it's easier to catch up now than it used to be. With hte now, and upper tier ebs that pay nearly as well, you can make gold much faster. Also, with all the equipment you can get now, you can move up to higher paying ebs much faster. And... T4/T5 building price cuts... I started in late 2010 on first account - played for over a year and still wasn't hlbc back then.
Only way to grow at the speed your talking without real life cash is to hit ebs all day everyday ug & build enough gold to hire allies from market and get your closest 3-400 best friends (pfft) to continuously hire from you. The profits from sales eventually would max your build and elevate you to lb. Is it possible yes but so is winning the lottery in rl 3 times in a row. Just like alot of the ppl before me have said; enjoy connecting with ppl all over the world while hitting the many different ebs, hunting for equipment and pilfering your enemies in pvp or ee. Good luck.
There's no need to catch up. You don't have to be #1 on LB to enjoy the game, or any game for that matter. Let large stat players fight at their tier, be it wars or ebs. And smalls do the same, and advance through the ebs and tiers as designed by the developers.