I've only joined one game so far, but in that case, a friend invited me after her open application period had finished. Before I created a character, I could see all the other applications. Afterwards, I couldn't see them--no names, avatars, nothing. I was able to work my way back to them through the character creation sheet, but I would like an easier route.

I'm not sure whether this applies in all games when one makes a character, or only under the circumstances I've described.