[Sebguer]

Not sure if you've ever given any RPI games a try, but just opened last month and we fulfill most of your criteria:

1) We generally have a minimum of thirty players on, except at the extreme off-peaks, when it may dip down to 15-20.

2) Gear and skills don't decay.

3) PvP is unrestricted, and character death is permanent, but the former is rare (due to the IC repercussions) and the risk of the latter can be mitigated by caution.

4) Skills raise by use, but grinding is fairly inefficient. There's no proper experience system- all skills just have a rating, from beginner to legendary. The wilderness is extraordinarily dangerous to even well-skilled players, and is generally only traversed by groups of people.

5) We're extremely newbie friendly. We have an in-game helpline to let you ask questions, in addition to an OOC chatroom available on our website, which always has at least a few people in it who can help with anything you might need.

6) There's absolutely no pay for anything. We accept donations, but they come with no perks or advantages.

If you have any further questions, as I said, we have a , which you can access after registering on the website.