Well I'm aware you weren't only speaking to me, I was just giving my opinion on what you said.
I wasn't aware you didn't spend any gold to get what you have, but if you didn't, you must've spent a lot of time getting it.
And that's another problem, not everyone has all the time in the world to play each and every day.
I myself have a lot of time, but even all the time I spend seems to get me nowhere because all I do is die all day.
I also wasn't referring to players who've been playing for only a few days.
There are people who have been playing since the ladder reset and are still having trouble.
I've been playing everyday since the ladder reset myself and I'm still having trouble.
I meet people daily who are in a worse position than I am and have no clue what to do to get around it.

I have also tried both life tap and life steal and neither seem to be enough to keep me alive.
I've also played Diablo 2 for a long time, so I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything wrong.