Yet another new person with a question...

[Gandalf Parker]

Those all make sense. But they still seem to talk to the idea of learning how to play nations. What nation would you recommend as the FIRST nation so the person can learn how the game works, the buttons, the queues, the movement, etc without having to learn anything about the nation itself?

Im thinking human (we all know how to play humans?)
Troop and commander types that are likely to be known already. Basic scout, mage, priest, infantry.

This goes back to why I say programmers shouldnt write the game docs (thankfully Illwinter didnt do that for Dom3). By the time you are deep into the game, its hard to think like a newbie again. Many things seem "obvious" and dont need explanation.