Being relatively new to the server and its particular mechanics and content, I am not really in a position to comment about the higher level tiers as I have not reached them yet, I will however comment on some of the lower tier activities I have done.

1) I will agree with some of the comments listed previously that casters do seem to be in need of a "buff" to bring them somewhat in line with the melee classes, as a person who primarily plays casters in MMO's in general, I would love to be able to "main" one of my casters, which I sadly cannot do as things are currently. I have heard that they do improve in later tiers, but I would ask why is there that delay?

2) FG/CG: I can see the need to do these on one character if you so wish to do so the "old fashioned" way but when you are looking to do them for a party its a pain to put it mildly, sadly, Misty Thicket appears to be extremely buggy to put it mildly, in regard to this I am unclear if that is something that is awry with the zone itself, or if it is something that is occurring on client side (aka if i have a corrupted file somewhere). I am going to throw out a suggestion, since FG/CG appear to be nostalgia runs for the most part, why not add a vendor that sells the items needed to proceed with the quest, which would be another option, this would allow those who maybe are seeking another way to complete these two quest lines for an entire party another way to do so. This would eliminate some time that is spent running through multiple chars working to get these two requirements completed, I have seen this done on well an AC server, and it doesnt detract from the experience but rather adds another option for players to progress.  A further thing to consider this is no different really then those who have the option to purchase a completion flag from the ez credit vendor, except it would be open to all which would also help especially as donations are no longer accepted at this time.

3)Going to add to the LDON statement here, I would like to see that as well (in regard to what Acaelis mentioned), I would go so far as to suggest that the bosses also drop more then one page at a time, this would also cut down in the length of time players spend doing these tasks.

I guess really in the end a decision needs to be made if the server wants to be welcoming to newer players, and by this I mean in regard to shortening the time it takes (and effort and frustration) to get through the the earlier tiers I personally can say there have been a few times that I have been frustrated with either the drop rates (qvic etc) or some of the more "tedious" elements of progression to the point where I needed to step away from playing for a bit, and I am typically more patient  then most gamers.  In closing I would agree with the opinion that the acceleration for tiers 1-7 could do with some tweaking as that would be one most players would get frustrated and be more prone to lose interest and quit.