So one question I have, is it highly recommended to read the Roll Call 2013 posts, or are most topics covered in the 2014 posts?
There is definitely overlap between the 2013 and 2014 posts and there is valuable information in both. In addition to Roll Call Alaska 2013 there is the thread On the Road with "Road Call Alaska 2013" which is more related to posts as we traveled.
I'd recommend scanning both of the 2013 threads and cherry picking what's interesting for you. There are a lot of posts in all 3 threads that can be skipped but it should be time well spent.
Having said that there are, believe it or not, people driving to Alaska that have never heard of rv.net and they have a great time! :h