OK please post your character concept. I think we will go with heroic tier with the main storyline running maybe to low paragon depending on character development (the more loose strings which divert attention from the world plot-line the longer we'll go.)
With that in mind generally powers would ideally be flavored out more towards the Sword and sorcery rather than high fantasy. This flavor is more for story-rp than mechanics. Wizards are of course stil magic but many powers involving lines such as "tp 4 and make an attack" will be "re-flavored" and rp-ed as tumble 4 squares and make an attack. Game mechanics will be unaffected (teleporting wont draw OA) but story wise it will be flavored a little less like "street-fighter" and more like "keep on the borderlands."

Okay, I'm going to redo this post to make it, y'know, actually contribute something.

One thing that I wish my players would do more is work on their sticky (the background threads that keep a PC group together) before the game. I'd very much like for us to do that -- and I'll get to it. But we gotta start somewhere, and the party roles seem like as good a place as any.

So far, I only know that Yle-kay wants to play a ranger. Excellent, we have a striker! He also wants to focus on the typical ranger skillset of nature lore and survival, which is fantastic for the group; I see a lot of open grasses and trees on the campaign map.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward a cleric, so that would be the party leader (role-wise, I mean; not necessarily the in-character leader of the group). I'd be healing and buffing, and would probably do well as a group face (with charisma being one of my high-priority stats, and diplomacy one of the skills I'd almost certainly invest in). I'd also have ritual casting, which is always nice to have. Right now the biggest questions on my mind are do I want to go the face-smashing strength cleric route (more melee fighting and buffs) or the more magic-centric wisdom cleric route (hang back and cast spells with more emphasis on healing). But for now, cleric has me sufficiently intrigued to where I can say with some degree of certainty that I'll be playing one.

So what do we need? A defender (fighter or paladin) would be fantastic, and almost essential given the nature of 4E combat (for those who haven't played yet, my playgroup's fighter and paladin pretty much run the combat however they want to, and definite battle lines form up around and behind those characters).  A controller (wizard is the only "official" controller class in the PHB) is great, though not really necessary...even though they do make fights against masses of minions go much more quickly. After that, more of any role would be great.

Outside the realm of crunch, we need sticky. Why are our characters together? Are we a professional adventuring organization? What drives our characters, both as a group and personally? From what I've read, it seems like we're starting as part of a caravan; we could easily be a mercenary group signed up to work as guards/escorts. Or maybe we're fresh to the adventuring gig, new to the area, just arrived looking for our shot at gold, glory, and hot, hot dwarven women. Toss your ideas in!

Some questions for Rocks, however: what level are we starting at? How much gold do we get to spend? What method are we using to build our characters' ability scores? WHEN DO WE START?! 

Also, if the game doesn't fill up on the board, could I bring a friend along?

Aerandis is about 100 years old, just starting out in the world.  His family once lived in the cities 1000 years ago, but took up residence in the wilds on the edge of the region when humans encroached.  The family maintains an ancestral shrine within the city, making trips every so often (years, decades) to pay tribute and also pay the family of gnome care-takers who have watched the shrine over the years.  Aerandis is making his first post-adolescent trip, transporting wages (in a locked container) and non-monetary tribute to the shrine.  He visited once as a child, and the 10 year old gnome he became friends with -- Hobnobbin -- would be about 60 years old at this point.  He carries his bow for hunting and few other supplies, having joined with the caravan once he approached the city so he could pick up on some news of the world before he arrived.  With his family he had been somewhat sheltered, and he is excited to be able to travel and learn about the world outside of his woods and glen.

There is a questionnaire about your character will should be kinda filled out and emailed back or posted in your thread. As Im not really into pvp your creativity may give others ideas about their characters. New players (you lurkers) might wanna consider answers to these questions yle-kay is working on ripping the text from the campaign guide so it can make its way into your hands (and I can edit misspellings and omissions)