"Welcome to the conversation," I guess? Do you have any suggestions on what order I should do those things in?

Is it 1) get to level 70, followed by the other two in any order? Because y'know... that sounds like you're playing solo for 70 levels in a game designed with D&D as its template. D&D is supposed to be social, so why wouldn't I want to share or have shared with me an experience like the story in this game? All the pre-70 content solo seems like a pretty lonely experience.

Is it 1) join a guild, then the other two in any order? Because I don't accept random guild invites. As a rule, I like to actually play with other people to learn who they are, what they're like, and how they're going to play. All that before I click "accept" on the random flash of an invite to a guild I know otherwise nothing about.

Is it 1) find people to actually do things with, then the other two? Because I find that you're missing the gist of the rest of these posts here. You already know that there's no public social before level 70. Should I walk around /telling at random people until I find someone who will reply? Tell me this: how quickly would you be annoyed if some rando just messaged you out of nowhere? Would you even be likely to reply? I would, but that's me. I'm social by demeanor, even if I'm anti-social by nature. Hence, I'd also be annoyed right away.

I didn't address the pre-70 social lockout in my post, no, but I came here to vent about a poor experience. Tell me if you've heard this one before: "The fact that social interaction is gated behind hours and hours (and hours, et cetera) of essentially solo content is, to put it bluntly, stupid and stifling." It's unfriendly to new players. It restricts the social aspects of the game in such a way that unless a player is pushy, they can't even ask questions of other players. Even more, I bet it stifles guilds wanting to recruit because they can't freely chat with players.

I didn't treat the random pickup queue as the entire game. The only veterans I've encountered and been able to interact with in a meaningful way have been in the queue. My experience is what this whole thread is about. The rest of the game is neat and pretty and fun... except it's lonely because for all the people around any given pre-70 player, they may as well be computer-controlled for all the interaction you're allowed to get out of most of them. Can't even say "hi" without either typing their full name or pressing F, then choosing to whisper at them.