I am not a fan of the Threshold system, however it is a necessary evil.

Perhaps, to keep all parties happy, we could develop a sort of hybrid system.

The reason I don't support having everyone able to explore all the boards as soon as they create an account is because the Threshold is like the second part to one's application process - it helps give us an idea as to whether the player and/or character is going to work in the Helovian world.
-> I don't -mind- the idea of only restricting a player's first character to being 'Unclaimed' and then subsequent characters being able to choose however I feel that the character should still be posting first in a land that is on the borders of Helovia (eg, washed up on the beach of the Endless Blue, wandering in the Deep Forest, etc).


Now, players have the ability to note which herd they would like to be approached by (if they have an idea of where they want to go) - with this system in mind, if the thread has been waiting for more than 2 days unanswered (as in, zero replies), we could generate a NPC who could direct the character to the general area of that herd - people are more likely to reply in their own herdlands or borderlands, yeah?
So, for example, an NPC would direct a character wanting to join the Basin (but no-one in the Basin has had a chance to reply) to the North, towards the Frostbreath Steppe. Or, for the Falls, to the Meadow. For the Edge, to the Grove. For the Throat, to the Heart Caves.
These would be short, simple NPC's that would only take one or two posts to help get people moving on through the Threshold, into an Outcast rank and talking to the herds they are interested in. And, it would only come into play when it was needed, ie, when everyone is busy and swamped with work. They would be easy to do, because the NPC/RE could post the same reply (adjusted to different herds as needed) to multiple characters.
As well as another NPC for those wanting to simply become Outcasts.
The question then arises of how much information do these NPC's give. Obviously we can't give away herd specific information without actually being a part of that herd, so maybe we could all decide on what information we want the "general outcast pool" of characters to know - herd's rough location (north, south, east, west?), herd names, leader names?

Just some food for thought :)