>Replace the Intro Mingle with an IC briefing regarding the current plot beats and give new joiners some kind of role/task to do related to that. The intro mingle doesn't actually help new characters find a purpose/role in the city, it's just a fun socialisation activity, and I think helping new characters with more of the former will address the complaints that people are struggling to get involved.

I like this idea and I think I would take it a step further and say that the network orientations could be folded into that, too, since I think they would overlap a lot if the mingle was changed. (And, tbh, I think they're feeling a bit repetitive.) Perhaps allow ranked characters to take care of some of the briefing so it doesn't feel like it's just reacting to another NPC rundown, and allows people who are ranked to feel like that role is more than just a throwaway thing which seems to be a sentiment shared among a lot of people.

I don't know how well this would work in practice, honestly. I'm just spitballing ideas here...