The reason that I continued playing right in the beginning, when I was almost turned off by the poor graphics and slow pace, was because I got what I thought of as a good gold income (about 60 gold) and an opportunity to increase it by increasing the size of my estate. Otherwise I might have chucked the whole thing. Especially when my friend who recommended it and was starting to play again bailed after about 3 days lol.
I actually only created my third character after about 2 weeks, because I wanted to learn more about the game before committing too many characters. It is a steep learning curve - will have more characters make it harder or easier? I'm inclined to say harder, perhaps.
I'd say it makes it easier, but we should be talking to an actual new player, because so much has changed and we've only had to take it a bit at a time, lessening the learning experience some. I say easier, because more characters gives you more situations, more people to talk to, and thus more people to possibly help you.
