And some other poor soloing classes.

I know a lot has been done to improve lowbie mage ranking potential, especially solo. I'd even argue that with the right knowledge its not even that bad.

However, the watchout is new players. Mages are probably the most exciting classes a new player is likely to choose and if they join, don't know what specific gear to wear where exactly to rank/quest and no one is willing to rank with them its extremely difficult to level up and probably a major turn off.