Momma_Sophie

Speaking as someone under 1000 and that has been under 1000 for about two years this coming January, I have to say that I personally find that this talent is not very difficult to get a grasp of.

I have surveyed the general newbie populace and found that they generally think the talent is fun. But, this is not the point I want to make...

Not only do you need to complete a story line, you have to make sure you're finished with g20 (which isn't offered to characters under level 500) and can hold your own in the Baltane missions to work on getting Raging Spike and Bachram Explosion.

There are a couple of problems here:
1. You can attempt g19 (and thus g20 by extension upon completing g19) starting from lvl 20, according to this source: "You may start Generation 19 after reaching level 20, but it is suggested to do the other Mainstream Quests to understand the story more."

2. The Baltane missions seem to also have a similar setup to the "Shadow Mission" layout in that they also seem to scale in accordance with a player's cumulative level. I could be wrong here, but I am going by what I read from players above 1000 and compared their experiences to my own as a player under 1000.

On top of that, beginners won't exactly be able to solo Coill Abyss and farm hornets/ancients for the crystals needed for Spinning Slasher.

I am going to guess that you are making this point on basis of an assumption, which seems to be that all beginners lack the power to either pass Coill Abyss or the savvy/marketing abilities to eventually acquire enough gold to buy those particular crystal (respectively selling at 1,000,000 and ~650,000 gold on Tarlach server, at least -- by the way, I was able to get through Coill Abyss and I know some people more than double my level that still cannot complete it). Some of this just boils down to actual skill and savviness as a player rather than just levels.

I will agree that there are some beginners that cannot do either of these things, but those particular beginners usually are the ones that never took the time to train their skills, gather enough AP for the skills they plan to use, or do any of the previous mainstream quests that ultimately help them fight tougher enemies.

I'm worried about the (few) new players we get getting discouraged when they pick this as their first talent.

I have no idea where your worry comes from, but your concerns seem based upon a subjective interpretation of what you see as difficult. As previous players here have stated, some people that find the talent difficult to use will simply avoid using it (temporarily, maybe) until they figure themselves ready to attempt the talent once more. Being able to rebirth into a new active talent on the daily basis fixes this problem.

Long story short: if a player gets discouraged overall because one out of twenty talents proves too difficult for them to either acquire skills within or train, then they probably should stop playing this game entirely and move on.

Not only that, it makes Chain seem easier than other talents like Fighter and Archery, both of which are suitable to new players and do not require main storyline completion.

A decent portion of Chain Slash Talent skills do not require completion of anything except the side-story and equipping a Chain blade.
Placing a few select skills behind certain challenges seems to be a strategy used by the developers to give these newer players incentive to get stronger and pursue a few goals.

In any case, labeling something a "beginner" talent does not necessarily equate to something being "easier." The word "begin" means "to start" and they are simply saying that Chain Blade is a great place to start as a talent considering its usability as a Dex/Luck focused talent (not like archery as it goes without the complications of missing shots and needing backup strategies/talents/weapons for when enemies get too close).
I agree with them, if this is the case.