I was actually pretty impressed with the tutorial, and even though it's a bit heavy on the dialog (and I agree that most newbies probably just skim the information) I think that most of the introduction to RP actually comes from interacting with the NPCs in the tutorial area. With each of the NPCs having a different personality and acting out various little habits and quirks, it seems to me that this is probably the start of learning RP by example so, cursory look or not, I'd like to think new players are still learning a little something about RP. In short, I'm all for the NPCs being even more interactive and conversational like Duraza suggested.
Like Bilbous mentioned, I think telling the player to find a certain well-established NPC once they arrive in Yliakum would give them at least a sense of direction and hopefully lead them to people that can actually answer questions they may have about the game. In fact, I'd even be for taking this idea one step further and giving the character a quest to find this NPC, something simple like delivering a letter once they are sent to Yliakum. If an "information" NPC was added like Liadan thought up, I can see it being a nice way to ease a new person into what they need to do in Yliakum but, even if you just sent them to Harnquist or Brado, hopefully they'd at least be able to get some of the more simple quests and be around "real" people that can actually interact with them.
Also, I think Anumesa was dead-on suggesting that the new tutorial should not just be a unique instance for people. Planeshift is a game that very much requires a person to rely on the other players around them... why not get them started early? It also could potentially cut down on people having problems with the tutorial quests, if one person is pulling the ore out before it turns to dust and can't figure out why it's not working, there may just be another newbie that has already figured out that part and tells them that they only need to let it "cook" a little bit longer.
Finally, it's a tough thing to try and tell someone how to RP, I spent my first month or two in game not really having any idea how to RP but just making sure to learn the difference between IC and OOC so people wouldn't yell at me.
Personally I think all the RP guides in the world can only go so far, RP is one of those skills that is learned by example (hopefully good ones) and cultivation of this skill requires a bit of patience on the end of more established players. While I can't entirely blame someone for ignoring a "n00b" that is running around spamming "plz giv me stuff!," particularly if people are in the middle of a pretty serious RP, but I think that sometimes PS can be a bit elitist and needlessly "clique-y." In my mind a big step to retaining new players would actually start with the attitude of the current players... While I'll admit some new players just aren't cut out for PS (lack the patience for an alpha-game, don't care for RP, etc.) I'd like to think that there are more than a few that just need a little direction and patience to develop into the type of players this game project needs. So basically...
Be nice to newbies! (Disclaimer: Not saying everyone is like this or even claiming that I haven't brushed off the occasional new player just because I wasn't in the mood. This was not intended to blame anyone just bring up something I've noticed from time to time that, like all things, could probably be improved upon.)
Edit: Now that I think of it... that "information" NPC would be kind of like Xillix back in the Vesper days where a player could just point a newcomer over to The Temple and say "Look for Xillix, she'll help you you... Just follow the jingling bells and pipe smoke." So, I change my vote to handcuffing Xillix to his computer 24/7 to teach all the newbies again about Yliakum history and how to RP.
