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I would like to thank everyone for their replies, and i have read them all carefully.  While the offers for help are greatly appreciated, i believe they miss the mark.  It was not my intent to demand a hand-out, but instead to just point out i wasn't given much of an opportunity to play to begin with.  That is, the damage done was to the time i set aside to play a game.  As far as i could tell in the time i invested reading the rules/backstory before playing, this should not have happened.  I suppose the problems could be summarised thusly:

1) PvP guidelines are apparently not really followed as advertised.

The PVP section of the rules is the very first thing i, and many read when picking out a server.  I went here and saw:

- It is not acceptable to target level 2-3 characters with muggings,  ritual sacrifices, random beatings, or other PvP. If conflict occurs, it  is acceptable to engage in PvP if they have done something to earn it.  The exception to this is monstrous and app'ed characters.

I can only assume that i ran into a "monstrous" or "app'ed" character, whom in talking to after the fact lead me to believe this is quite a common thing on the server.  All well and good for those looking for a challenge, but for my friend in particular who was just learning the client it is devastating.  I strongly recommend changing the wording of the PvP guidelines to indicate the reality that a thorough beatdown is likely to be received without any warning or buildup.  

Again, nothing wrong with the server being that way, but it really isn't the type of atmosphere for beginners to the game client and at very least you should strive to be honest with the way you advertise the server.

2) I was prevented from doing what I came here to do: Play a game.

All the free healing in the game doesn't help much when you've expended  all your abilities and potions in a brutal beating you received while  trying to walk around and learn the server.

I take my time pretty seriously, as I haven't much to spare.  I only have a few hours at a time i can hope to spend in playing a game, and i can't hope to compete in some "grind" situation to level and make war on other players.  Moreover i haven't the stomach for such chest-beatings.  I think this really touches on the heart of the issue, in that "Grinding" the quests is thereby encouraged and RP diminished.  Many of you suggested this route, and i would tell you that way lies the death of a good (RP) server.  A "rat race" situation should be avoided at all costs, and i would caution you that people are getting to the starting line, and getting ready for the gun.

Again i apologise if i have offended.  This is just intended as some feedback from someone who has now spent much of his adult life playing, building, and DMing NWN servers.  I hope that it is useful to you.

Hello all!

I heard so much good about this server from friends.  Words of elegant scripts and great RP enticed me to give the server a go.  I've been playing/building/DMing in NWN for years and with my previous servers long gone i decided to find some new servers and stopped by here first.

Creating a character and logging in were easy, i loved the loads of information available in the starting area.  It truly seemed a rich place that was carefully crafted.  The command system was a welcome sight to me, and i headed into game hopes high.  I even managed to talk a NWN n00b into playing with me and we set a date.  We were met towards the starting portal and had some fantastic RP about the dire situation on the island.  It really hit home the depth of the story.  After taking a brief look around and we called it a night.

Anxious to get into the guts of things, my friend and i set aside some time on friday to try a few quests out.  We started in the newcomers tower where we left off and read the board.  Thinking to start at the top, we decided upon the rat quest.  As we were heading out, another PC asked to join and after some brief discussion we agreed to the company.  This seems to have been my first mistake.

Upon reaching the granary the other PC charged in quickly, running off.  It seemed to be more of a "smash and grab" than an "RP a quest" and it was evident he'd done this one before.  Preferring to take my time and enjoy the story of the quest as i get a feel, i was somewhat irked about the behavior but eventually the PC managed to regroup with us and continue the quest.  Upon completion he ran towards the loot as fast as possible, handed some to us, then ran off quickly with little interaction.  I have no doubt he was off to the next XP farm, and my friend and i wondered if we were playing WOW or NWN.

Hoping this was just an outlier, my friend and i decided to try something else.  Just outside the granary was someone saying there were goblin problems.  We thought this was the granary again, but it wouldn't let us in so we headed west to an area labled as "goblin squatters".  Sounded like it might be the area.  We poked around a bit, going slowly and cautiously despite not seeing any living creature around.

Then things went crazy.  A huge spider with several buffs attacked us, subdueing us in just a few blows.  I thought perhaps it was a DM, as in the PVP rules it more or less implies that PVP is reserved for situations warranting it after some "build up" but i was wrong:

It was another player who jumped us.

They quickly realized we were new, and after knocking us down a few more times asked about us.  I suppose that they graciously left the few remaining supplies we had, but the damage was really done.

Having no HPs or abilities left after the brutal attack, the night was done early.  I had logged on to play and found only half-hearted RP and folks attacking us merely for walking an area away from the starting point, and then not had a chance to even play long.

I have to say that I'm greatly soured to the server and will likely look elsewhere.  To those that bid me check it out, i gave it a go and prefer a server that i actually get a chance to at least play a bit.

I hope this feedback is useful to the team.

TLDR: Server seems well built, but has a poor RP gaming culture and lack of respect for new players about it.