Ah, cool; yep, I've been trying my hand at using the Sword and Shield and the Bowgun, because I really dislike using Switch Axes and Longswords/Greatswords; like everyone online uses them and they feel very commonplace to me. I just hate that some people even go so far as to not quest with you if you're not using a 2H weapon. I tried my hand at using a Lance, which to me is a slowish version of the Sword and Shield. I mean, I don't usually go solo, as I mostly go out with friends and stuff. Otherwise, I'd take a long time defeating monsters with my weak weapons. Not that I care, though; I like using the weapons I chose. =)
As for Brawl, I did start 2 years ago attending some locals in Houston with some very well-known players. It was a good experience to me, but I'm pretty much done with all that now. However, I still enjoy a good Brawl, especially Teams. I remember when that was a very long fad on the NeW thread. We would all race to see who would join the Teams match first. Heh, good times. ^^
But yeah, let's play when you're ready. Also, if you're looking to just play casually, I can link you to a site I've been a part of ever since 2009. I basically joined there when NeW was starting to enter its last stretches and even invited people such as Chaco, Karina, Chris and Lester to join, though I don't think they play the game anymore, so they don't visit. It's pretty active, so if you're interested, just say so. On that note, look forward to playing with ya!