For the monstrous races, I was wondering if they would be able to craft their armor inside the Eye of Storm area when they first log in, have a merchant selling helms or some such. Sort of like a step by step progress instead of a two room area.
My idea:
Log in, do the rest, log out, log back in.
Start with enough gold to buy things from the merchants.
Have an appearance changing area.
Then the portal.
Of course, this can all be stuck in one room too...I just find step by step areas a lot easier when I first join a server, although simply placing a noticeable marker on them can work too.
Whole point of why I'm suggesting this? Because the first three seconds in Hempstead can get messy if you're drow or tiefling and you have to ask for directions on where to buy a helm that hides your scary face