In regards to making new players feel more welcome, maybe doing what daisychain did and starting up and OOC welcoming committee is something to consider? The details of it are here (http://daisychainmods.livejournal.com/11259.html#cutid1). I'm not sure if something like this has been brought up before, but maybe more communication OOCly between new and old players (more than just the chat) would help more cr happen ICly.