but how often would it be populated?
never
That would mean there are very few if no new players, which means this mod has a short life span and is fucked as the old timers get bored and move on.
I like the idea of peasant server. It would give new players a chance to have a decent scrap instead of being pwnd within 20 seconds of starting.
Brand new players to cRPG spend most of there time watching if they are on a battle server and most of their time respawning and being prime archer targets (because archers can actually kill them without having to use half their quiver), on siege.
On the whole, being new to cRPG is a shit experience which most probably avoid. Fun is not a word I would use. It takes determination to stick with it.