The character-gen process is non-intuitive and kludgey, where it should be easy. If a player is turned off in the first 2 minutes, he is unlikely to recover to explore the game content. The terrible lag that seems to infect every Java game didn't help.
It's pretty hard to tell what your starting character looks like until *after* you start to put on equipment. Why not have the player open the equipment tab first? Or do it automatically. And I only accidentally discovered that I could get different looks for the character by repeatedly switching from male to female and back.
Once I learned "Childish Things" I saw that I had "Survival Skills" available. Except it wasn't available. I wasted some time trying to learn it before giving up in disgust. Why show it?
Once I open the chest, and my clothes are on the ground, can I ever pick them up? Even on my 2nd character, one of the pieces did not reach the figure and landed on the ground. Maybe it's a mouse problem, but it isn't a fun way to start the game. I have to play half-naked or delete the character. Again.
I want to like the game, and I am more persistent than most, so I will try again tomorrow.