ИДЕЯ ДЛЯ РИЗОМА

You can make a new character on same account to visit silan. Uni(verse) channels are universal and allow players to chat between ML and silan. You can also use command "/tell <player> <message>". There's also a friend list under "communications" menu where you can add player by name.

Absolutely not. It ties in with the lore, and also we were all born there. so alas every new player will and should follow in those foot steps.

Actually we were not born there, we arrive there as refugees from the Old Lands, brought by the Rangers to Silan to begin real training (since apparently the knowledge of fighting and casting and crafting has been lost in the Old Lands due to the continuous harrassment of the kitins.

That is why we are wearing refugee clothes and weapons when we report to Chiang.

Bones was not born on Silan and his time there was only spent clicking to get out of there. I enjoyed the first moments of confusion in the original starting land. It gave me a feeling that nothing would be easy in this game. I did try out the missions on Silan with alts. I agree there is valuable information there to be learned. On the same note I lose track of the number of times I re-explain what is already taught there so I don't think most actually pay attention because in most other games you rush through beginner levels to get to end game.
While I do not like Silan, personally, I know that it is optional to stay there and that is the only reason I would say to keep it. Other than that, not suggesting only saying, I would remove it. Again, I said that I am for keeping it because it is optional to stay there and optional to do the missions :) I think that maybe more could be added from Chiang to remind players that this game is not about the rush to max level and much more to be learned before.

Good point Bones!

When I tried Planeshift [alas, for some 20 minutes before the graphics killed me] - one of the very first messages was a reminder that hey, people here like to roleplay, so try to keep up with them or at least do your best to not spoil their enjoyment by going out of character too blatantly.

Point being, in a roleplay game, one of the first messages was OOC and highly useful at that. Ryzom could take some notes in this regard, one quick message when you start out subtracts nothing from the rest of your experience.