There are current IC events regarding the tree supporting Sith'a'niel which are causing Ayamao to no longer be allowed for starting characters. These events are subject to change and I am not aware of the latest status, so I am not going to put any more detail about the IC situation here.
But Ayamao is also closed for gameplay reasons (as supported by the above storyline), so that (at least temporarily) players will be routed into a smaller number of zones where they will encounter each other more often and lead to more player interaction, particularly in the early levels of building a character.
But what about if you want to make an elf? No problem! You will just need to start your character in one of the other kingdoms that allows elves. This is the same restriction that deep-elves have always faced (they have their own city after all, but you've never been able to start there). You are more than welcome to say that you grew up in Sith'a'niel, but now due to the problems facing the Alliance, you are currently living in <fill-in-the-blank> kingdom.
There will likely be at least one more kingdom that follows the same path as Ayamao in the near future for the above stated gameplay reasons. If you want to start characters from these kingdoms in the future, the best way to get them back into action will be to actively recruit new players for the game so that we can once again be confident in allowing six starting zones while maintaining a healthy level of player interactivity.
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