Alright, I know I'm going down in flames for this one, but here me out, then bring out the big guns.

I believe that the world feels very empty right now. For those of us 'Fanbois' this is ok because we have faith that things will pick up and all will be good. However, for noobs entering the game, the world will feel very empty, and they don't necessarily have that sense of everything is gonna be ok. So what does this have to do with chat.

If you open up global chat for a while, until the game gets going and more ppl start playing, the place won't feel as empty and new players will have others to talk to, get help from, and in general improve their gaming experience. Otherwise my fear is that a new player will come in, not hear anyone talking, and say well, that was fun, next game. Or they join a tribe, but like many tribes, there are a lot of ppl not logging in right now because they are await this or that patch, and they still feel the world is empty.

Give em global chat so that it at least feels a bit more crowded. Turn it back off once the world is going. IMO..

Let the crucification begin!