Choosing an Alliance

Joining a training alliance that prepares you for a specific alliance (like TOR for TOR-U or WET for WE... - See the link above) might be a step to combine the benefits? I am not entirely sure about the quality of ALL the training alliances that do not have a sister alliance, as motivation is not to gain new active players for a particular alliance (though I must admit I cannot say much about the other training alliances neither but did have some shocking conversations with ex-training alliance members that  have not learned much or the right things about this game - wich again is not necessarily the fault of the training alliance). I think basically all (training) alliances alow to leave the alliance again although if you consider it you should not settle in the hub of such an alliance). The settlement part is the most difficult for new players and in order to know where to settle, it does make sense to join an alliance. Newbies need to get help with settlement decisions and you should choose another alliance if that help is not provided, I think.

Usually, I would say I am not a player that would feel atracted by training alliances. But since I start to know this game much better, I would reconsider and now do recomend to join such a group. Joining a training alliance, you can expect that there is a particular effort to teach the game (usually much more compared to "normal" alliances). And I think for the absolute majority, if not all players, it is not possible to avoide bad mistakes that cost you ages to correct, if you do not get help at the begining.

it can be more challenging, it has more of a permanent feel to it, knowing that you can settle into that alliance and stay there, learning the game in a training alliance would be great of course, from veterans who have gained a lot of experience over time.... on the other hand, an alliance that learns the game together, top rank to new members, that can form a special bond that can't be replicated in any other way...

as I said initially, it all depends on what a player wants from an alliance, and what they want to contribute

like a lot of things in Illyriad, joining an alliance should involve a little, or a lot, of research.... and not all research in the game is done through the library and research tree