I think the tunnel is a much better way. Most people, especially those who join and leave soon after, don't have the patience to read a giant wall of things they can't do.
I'm guessing most people who leave are looking for different kinds of servers. And like you guys said, we don't want the kind of people who don't have time to read a couple rules on the server. We tell them to go to /warp help as well for a wall of rules.
One problem I will agree with is that most people don't know where to build and will sometimes go outside the immediate area of qualia, and because they can build there, will grief or make ugly ass villages on the borderland. To prevent this, perhaps we need to offer more rewards for existing villages to recruit these new members and kind of show them the ropes.