First off, welcome to the Dominions community!
As far as joining the game goes, I play for fun so I'm ok with it but I should mention a few things. It sounds like you have a good grasp of the game, as well as CBM, but keep in mind that MP is very different than SP. And without diplomacy you can't gather allies to try to even the odds. In the end, the worst that can happen is you have an early exit and learn some things (and hopefully have fun). It can have an impact on other players if one player is defeated too easily but I'm willing to rely on the other players realizing that and taking action (of course they may not help the person being attacked but rather try to get their own share of that player's provinces
). And of course you may do well - some new players are competitive from very early on.
Btw, if you're interested in getting advice from vets (without it being posted in a public forum for your opponents to see) you can try the
Dominions IRC channel. This is pretty much the way to fast track your MP knowledge.
So, it's up to you. I'll reserve a spot for you and if you'd like to give it a shot, feel free.
Also, the only comments specifically regarding Yomi/Shin/Jomon I see in llamabeast's change log are the following:
- Removed national hp nerf (standard Jomonese had hp 9, which was widely disliked)
- Fixed inconsistency in kami encumbrance (all now have enc 0, by analogy to elementals)
But there may be other changes to things like scales or magic items that you'll need to consider the impact of.