Most of these have been mentioned elsewhere, here and there, figured it deserved a dedicated thread. Feel free to add your own suggestions or discuss others' proposals.
1) Rethink the character limits
The new character limits give a sense of progression by rewarding loyal players. In that sense, it made sense when it was implemented. However, the very low character limit for newbies prevent them from experimenting any diversity, and increases the odds of them being put in the wrong place at the wrong time, for even the most active realms have some down time. We need newbies to get as vast an experience as possible when they start out, to increase the odds of them finding a spot they like and sticking to it.
As such, I would completely turn things around. Instead of being able to play the fewest characters, I'd have them able to play the most. One noble per continent, including Beluaterra. At least for their first month, then force them to pause a character every week afterwards until they return to normal limits (3-4). And until that is reached, obviously they'd be capped at one character per continent, and not able to dump all 7 in the same one. Different continents have different cultures, different wars, different histories. The broader the net is cast, the greater the chances that they find at least one that suits them enough for them to stick around.
2) Rethink newbie mobility
This wasn't my idea, but I think it's a good one. Changing realms should be made easier for newbies, so that if they land in a dull realm, they can try another realm without taking many weeks to get there. Add a new feature, "get smuggled out", which allows a character from a new family to get moved to a new realm within just a few days. One one hand, it'd allow them to try different realms if they fall on dull ones, and on the other, their increased mobility might incite older players to interact with them more, out of fear they'd move to a rival (instead of just quitting the game or staying by inertia).
3) Bring newbies together
A newbie continent was proposed a few times to help bring newbies together so that they may learn together. It was shot down, and I mostly agree with the reasons. However, a different means could be used for very similar results: allow continent-wide OOC communication between newbies. Allow players who have been in the game for, say, less than two months to write to each other. "Hey, I'm in X realm, and it's dull, what are you all up to?" "Hey, Y realm is awesome, I was put in a senate group and I'm being considered as lord!" "Hey, the king here is totally vicious and badass!" and the like could help newbies make more informed decisions about where to play, by consulting with peers, instead of relying on the old guard's forum propaganda (if on anything at all).
...) More will follow, I'm out of time for now.
