New Character - Starting with Nothing

As this just happened to me I thought I'd mention it. I created a character from scratch, answered the questions and was trying to step through the portal when the system crashed.

When I logged back in, I had the option to start on the map rather than continue.
I decided to test this to see what would happen. What I noticed was:
1 - I did get my skills
2 - I did not get any weapons of any kind (though I was given the path of courage)
3 - It dropped me on top of Port Phoenix instead of in a starting area.

In any case, I thought I'd mention it. I'm going to go back and create my character again and start over but you may want to disable the start on map option until after a player has begun their first quest.

EDIT: I went back and started over. Ended up in the right place this time but even though I had been forced to use the sword skills, I had no sword. Seems odd that we cannot pick our own weapon skill path or even start with a weapon? Is this normal or a bug too?