What do you think about the plugins? If we tweak them to be a little more forgiving and had a small tutorial area in 4.0 they be something you'd like to have?
I think some basic skills, like fishing and cooking, should be turned in to 'subskills' that anyone can learn and max out at any time, considering those are basic skills you need to survive and even hobbies to some people.
I love the plugins and think they are fairly easy to learn. I think the grinding helps encourage people who are here for rp to stay here and causes disruption mainly with the people who log on just to fight (which I find as a positive).