Welcome to TRF. New people are encouraged to start by either hitting up someone who looks nice enough, and hanging around with them, or by bopping on over to the Astral Astoria, where the RP'ing expectations are not as high as in the Battlegrounds. There you can wet your feet and meet some people.
It's nice meeting you all. I've got a few questions that I need to ask, but my partner in crime (who will be joining soon also) will probably be asking the more important ones that make sense. ;) Is it a requirement that we post in Astral Astoria, or just a type of warming up exercise?
Astral Astoria is optional, but its a good place to start nonetheless. It focuses more on small storylines rather than the big galactic picture. The Battlegrounds proper is where you're likely to find all the big fleet battles and planetary takeovers.
TRF has quite a few factions, but they are optional as well. Still, they're a great way to jump right in on a certain side, and there are a very diverse variety of them, so you're almost guaranteed to find one that would suit your character. Most of the faction leaders are very friendly, especially to newbies, as they don't often get new faction members.
If you look through the OOC Forums and Rebel Cafe, there are some arguments, a few of them very heated, but most everyones friends here, and we're almost always joking around. As a whole, TRF is a pretty nice community to be at, and anyone else here will gladly answer all your questions and more. Much more. At great length. Whether you want them to or not. ;)
*nods* I'll start posting as soon as I get my character figured out. I actually have big plans for the girl. In that case! I've got another question. :D What are the restrictions/sizes on signatures and avatars, if there are any.