Guitars work the same way back then and now, so generally the old posts do apply somewhat. the biggest difference 10 years ago and now is price, inflation aside, the jap brands like ibanez and ESP hiked their prices by quite a fair bit over the years.

i divide guitars into 4 levels, low >1.5k, low-mid 1.5k -5k, mid-high 5-10k, and high end (10k++). low is the cheapest of all, Pacifica 012, squire affinity, basically below or at 1k. Personally id recommend anyone to avoid this group cause the guitars are made as cheaply as possible and the QC issues are alarmingly high.

At low-mid, the guitar quality jumps quite a fair bit so a yamaha pacifica 212, Squier CV's. They are made properly with much lower QC issues and can stand the test of time quite well. Often they are MIC or Indonesian Made with the more expensive variants having better branded hardware (like gotoh)

then mid-upper is where you star seeing the jap and american made and as it gets more expensive you get better specs (exotic woods) with more customized options (10k++)\

as far as it goes for a beginner a low-mid Squier CV or an Epi is fine, i often recomend a SSH config so you have the best of both worlds and can experiment. Beginners have yet to develop their sound, so something like an EC1000 can be too specialized especially if the individual does not have a lot of gear to pair with it.

also practice is up to the individual, rightfully an expensive guitar should make you practice more.