you most likely missed the early quest around level 8-10 that asks you to equip all level 5 gear and come back to him... a lot of people don't realize all they need is a pair of pants (all the rest were quest rewards before that) and pants can be bought for a very small amount from the vendor right next to the quest giver. Subsequently, it's easy to forget to return to the guy, and no other story quests open up until you do that "gear check"