I decided to start a new character. I see the NPE is quite a bit more polished now. But when I got to the burning town, I hit a wall. I spent a half hour running around in circles trying to find this gatekeeper guy so I could get a key and leave, so I could actually play the game. All I wanted to do was leave. Then it dawned on me that I could have spent my time playing a game that I would enjoy, and then shut the game off. Don't artificially jail new players... let us jump into the game if we want.
This is coming. They talked about having an option to skip the tutorial from the Isle of Storms and start instantly in a town, ready to play (or craft, etc).
Nope, unless they changed it they are still going to make you go to the Outskirts first. And since the "Battle" scenes are no longer tutorials, they are now story intros only, I think that's a mistake. Let the move come from the Isle of Storms. The Oracle should ask whether you want to adventure or homestead first, and homesteaders don't make it to any of the battle scenes until they choose to.