@Galadin I recently did this exact thing with friends and we had a blast. The server settings out of the box are PvE and setup just fine to get started right away. Funcom has an official server launcher that you should consider using. It was very helpful, but is not in the Steam download. You have to get it here:
One thing we decided to change was the pet/thrall times. Seems kind of silly to have to wait 2 days for your thralls to convert when you are PvE with friends, so we lowered both of those (they are separate) quite a bit and it didn’t not diminish our experience I think.
I was able to run both maps on the same vm easily and without hassle if you decide to also run the Siptah map. One thing to note: Your character does not carry from one to the other like an Ark cluster might. One to grow on.
For anyone on the fence who hasn’t seen Conan in awhile, you should definitely give it a spin! There is just sooooo much content in this game now! We played for a solid two months and had a ball with it.