sure, i'd be interested in helping you test out your server and try out the concepts.
I think Criimson may have a point; but I suppose, without seeing how the x25/x35 plays out, I won't know for certain
On live, I thought one of the most briliant ideas was the server where you started as lvl 60 with 50 starting AAs.
Perhaps the solution is to come with an amount of time you think it should take someone to get to level cap as a solo newbie and then work backward to figure out what the XP mod should be. Perhaps even do an XP mod per zone.
On the skills thing, some of the servers do have quests that max stats. On EZ, once you complete the FG or CG quest, you can hail an NPC to get max Fighter or Caster based skill stats. Another server creates new players with 50skill in all skills (I forget which one that was, possibly Akka's).