No idea if this has come up before, but being a noob and spawning in the middle of nowhere with no mates, and bears trying to kill you is, frankly, not fun.
I therefore propose this suggestion, to ensure that a new character, who doesn't use hearth secrets, spawns at an established population center.
Quite simply, a new character has a chance to spawn at a given village directly proportional to the villages size.
The characters hearth point can be set to the Village Idol. The player can build his hearth somewhere new at a later date, if he wishes, as per usual.
The character will be made a village member automatically.
Benefits: Noobs will spawn with other players, who can give them a helping hand, and even a job or goal.
The player base will be more concentrated, adding to safety, commerce, and community.
The player can choose if he wants to strike out on his own, rather than being dropped automatically in the ass end of nowhere.
Problems: Villages may not want members spawning with no warning in the middle of their village. They may even kill them for the hell of it. (Solutions? Village leader can toggle new spawns? Character can choose wilderness spawn or village spawn? Use hearth secrets anyway?)
Thoughts?