A complete stranger opened up trade and gave me 50,000 (gold), and a separate stranger gave me a max level epic weapon.
I’m level 1–and am walking to the first quest giver in the noob zone.
So far, so good.
What friendly things have other players done for you when first starting out in a game?
When I first started FFXIV, someone saw my green leaf sprout icon and volunteered to become my mentor. I was getting bonus XP, they showed me around the game, telling me all the ins and outs. They even followed up with me after a couple of weeks doing things in my own.
After playing about three dozen or so MMOs since 1999, that was the first and only time anyone has done anything nice for me like that.
I remember people trying to help me with the concepts of the game when I started. A sort of “hey, I see you’re new. Is there anything you’re confused about? How can I help?” kinda thing. It was appreciated. 
More recently I was the person handing out gifts. The Ishgard Fetes have given me so many antelope mounts that after I had made sure everyone in my guild had one, I started wandering around Gridania just throwing them at Sprouts. When I could anyway. Can’t easily trade people on the trial, but I did what I could.