Salem needs some sort of social booster shot. Whether it is a chat improvement or a UI for recruiting. New players are thrown into an empty (socially) world. This is great for a solo game, but this is a multi-player game, so...
I've been trying to get into this game for weeks. The default answer from folks, when I ask about playing cooperatively is "check the forums." The forums are pretty dead right now. Perhaps even a newb island (small world) set to peaceful, so new players can learn the systems and meet people. These are my opinions.