Re: Welcome wagon
At the moment, I don't feel like there's a significant hook to have us all engage simultaneously. I've had the same problem with my FtF group of all my friends.
This medium is not great for transmitting emotional content. When in doubt, image Santa Claus saying this. Here are my feelings.
You presented the idea of helping out the nobility in various areas, but that was a bit nebulous. It also seemed like indentured servitude. Not much on adventures there. Maybe you had something else planned that we have not yet gotten to.
This magical puzzle has no pressing need for us to solve it. It was not followed up by armed rebels. So we are standing around bickering instead of engaging the puzzle.
To some degree, it's the genre. GURPS tends toward roleplayers, so we all talk more and act less.