Just joined, and I got 2 semi-decent players in my team when I joined (and one 'not complete crap' 19 year old). 1 is 31, the other is 20.
Even guys I know (from another game) said they thought I got completely shafted in the team I 'inherited'.
I'll be sticking through it, but I'd imagine that for every one guy who sticks with it, there'd be a dozen who just exclaim "screw it", and bail.
Making initial teams able to compete at least at the lower levels is definitely something you should explore. Nothing drives away new clientele than complete failure.
http://with-malice.com/ - The half-crazed ramblings of a Lakers fanatic in Japan