It doesn't take much to hook a newbie you see in the Gaj.
What it takes is you realizing that your idle time with a bottle of spirit or your way mudsex can f'ing wait 15 mins as you engage them and interest them. Or if, wonder of wonders, the Gaj is "hopping" and there's a brawl or a card game going on, it takes you reaching out and establishing a connection with that newbie and giving them some sort of solid rock in the sea of missed-punch chaos to hang on to. I do this almost every time I see a newbie. My PC's have suffered IC consequences of me taking time away from plot/dev to focus on getting that new player to understand how awesome the game is and how to navigate it.
When a newbie logs in, more often than not, we as the game get *ONE* shot at hooking them. If they spend 5-20 mins creating a character, then spend another 5-20 mins after initial login, that's already an investment on their part. They already have a passing interest. It does not take much to turn a passing interest into a "OMG I must learn more" but it does, more often than not, take something.
I've seen so many newbies log in, stand around, and then *pop* goes the link and they're there until next reboot or whenever they get mis-targeted on a Way and the staff member forcequits them. Don't count on an introductory email. Don't think "oh, there's 20 people on, someone else will get them, I need to go forage for my 18th amethyst this Dzeda." Please, take a moment, reach out, help out, and give them a shot at being interested.
I know I'm not alone in helping them out, but I could see us as a community doing so much more. If we all took the time to preemptively stop that 1 chance from flitting by, I think, in a year, we would see a significant increase in numbers.