Best Of

I've had similar experiences with alts. All the cities have some way to get people involved, but it's hard to find an in when you're a new character. Foci combat is the easiest one, but combat isn't for every player or every character -- I would not recommend it to someone who wants to try out Hardcore mode. Becoming an aide to a ministry is the next option, but some ministries require knowledge of specific mechanics (war, security, trade, chancellor), heavy bookkeeping (chancellor, trade, security, war, steward, treasury, research), or knowledge of city lore (culture, cardinal, ambassador) that an experienced player might not have, much less a new player. Sending a minister a message asking to become an aide when you've never really had the opportunity to interact with them is hard. You don't know how they're like and they don't know if you can be trusted with the ministry's budget.

Joining a guild means you get to directly interact with a major aspect of your city's lore and learn more about it, which means you're more competent for certain ministries and city activities. It also almost guarantees that you someone in the city government that you can interact with regularly and who can help you find something to do in the city. Guilds are smaller and more focused, so it's expected for characters who are in the same guild to have more overlapping interests, which makes it easier to strike up conversations with people. Guild advancement tasks also create more opportunities for people to talk and get to know each other.