Since the map is physically bigger than MO1, consider adding correspondingly more wilderness priests and more lawless camps/towns, maybe 2-3 strategically placed on the map. This will help all players get to vendors plus res with a chance to run to their body.
When you add TC, consider not shutting off guards. Mainly because to keep players coming in the game they need blue towns around also. If you add more red towns in general then getting to vendors will still be possible without turning off guards. So you can have this depth but not block off newbs. That was a big problem with MO1, IMHO, including there not being any Weapon or Armor vendors in towns like Vadda, Mohki, Bakti, etc in MO1, which seems minor but put together it made these towns too hard for new players (no guards, no items, nothing on broker = go back to Tindrem, get bored, quit). Or keep these towns attracting players striking out from Tindrem by just doing what you are doing.
When you add TC, consider not shutting off guards. Mainly because to keep players coming in the game they need blue towns around also. If you add more red towns in general then getting to vendors will still be possible without turning off guards. So you can have this depth but not block off newbs. That was a big problem with MO1, IMHO, including there not being any Weapon or Armor vendors in towns like Vadda, Mohki, Bakti, etc in MO1, which seems minor but put together it made these towns too hard for new players (no guards, no items, nothing on broker = go back to Tindrem, get bored, quit). Or keep these towns attracting players striking out from Tindrem by just doing what you are doing.