Joining a game and making a new character is currently a multi-step process asking the new player to read a manual / watch a tutorial etc.

I realize this is intended to help the player find their way into the game. However, from my players' feedback, it causes the feeling there are rules that have to be followed, that they are somehow required to know how the game works, so they don't make mistakes. It took me quite some time to convince them they should just get going and never mind the rules because you can't make mistakes anyway.

My suggestion: Make character creation the very first step of joining a game and tell the player not to worry about mechanics.