It seems we have enough old guard (5, me, hawk, wyrm, kop, sej) to at least get the desert started. I suggest this then:
1) All old nudists stick to their starter weapons and characters.
2) Any non-elite core or prophecies skill may be used for simplicity's sake.
3) Guests will be handed either a starter weapon kop stores/farms or a req 1 weapon from the smith.
4) After ascension we revisit the item rules. Getting to icy shiverpeaks is a good time to get candy canes after all... and also the time to expand beyond the old guard to fill a team of 8, with skills from anywhere.
We will start from sanctum cay and work through the desert missions and the attribute quests. Players who have done the attribute quests may not use those points until the team completes said quests.
Making the post-ascension rules clear, simple, and convenient will be a priority with bringing so many newbies on board. The pre-ascension rules can be as akward as we like then.
As for time.... can this replace our usual LoL time of 8:30-11:00 on tuesday? I'd like the 5 of us old guard to find an agreeable time at least. Mucco can become our 6th if we can get a decent time as well.