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Well, that makes sense...

Without reading most of the thread, I'm going to agree with the OP that the server is unwelcoming to new players.

I've been playing EfU casually on-and-off for over a year and wasn't really able to insinuate myself into any DM factions or in-depth plots, but I always knew that I could log into a fun, vibrant world with strong themes and find dynamic and fun players.

In EfU:A the themes seem terribly obscured, and starting out is painful. In the old EfU you could run Fed-Ex quests to level three in about 45 minutes and see a lot of the city along the way, and get intimations of themes - the Seekers, the Spellguard, Lower versus Upper, etc. They led you nicely from one to the other.

In EfU:A the quests seem less direct and accessible, and less fun. Go... scavenge burial shrouds? I'm still not sure about this one. If there was some way with the intro quests to introduce characters to the themes of the server, whatever they may be (something about the undead?) to get them settled, get them some experience and gold to start out with - I think new players would be having more fun.

The old players are determined to be the first to plumb the thematic depths of the new server, so this isn't a problem for them. But for casual and new players, I think that if there was some way to introduce them to the world in a compelling way and get them started a little stronger it would be an improvement.

The old EfU had a great balance between strong roleplay and popcorn video game fun. I think the popcorn factor ought to be shored up a little bit here - maybe not immediately, to keep the server mysterious in its beginning stages - but definitely along the way.

edit: As far as players being welcoming, I know that a lot of you out there are. But there's also the faction of players with short-tempered, rude, and ready-to-fight characters looking for PvP. To that crowd - go easy on the new guys!