I don't think this would be off-putting for a newbie - quite the contrary. Rather than being confronted from the get-go with the current form with freaky questions a day-one newbie doesn't understand like "what's your main nation", it's a smaller approach. So, list your nation, your Discord handle, and off you go. Then Nakari comes in and says "Hi, welcome to TSP! I see you have a new nation, have you played NationStates before or is this your first time?". Viet might ask "Do you have another nation that has World Assembly membership?", etc.