Wow, thanks! That's a lot of great information and advice, I really appreciate it. I guess I'll get over my intimidation and try Feast tomorrow, enjoy drinking my blood!

If I'm understanding this all correctly: I should begin with 8v8, and see how that goes. The queues are longer and it's not a perfect 1:1 for the 'real' mode, but it's a lot better than no prior PvP experience at all (since Frontlines basically don't exist right now, I guess). I can test out my PvP abilities, and get a general feel for the Feast gameplay flow and goals.

Then, if 8v8 isn't a total disaster, I should maybe move into 4v4 Solo if I'm feeling confident that I won't be total deadweight.

And if I see a Gold-ranked or Silver-going-for-Gold player in my roster at any point, I should sincerely apologize to them.