I'm on the same boat as you that it was a bad decission to make us wake up in the first city on the mainland isntead of the starter islands. During beta it was that way, but they changed due to some feedback. Not all feedback is good one I guess.

The main issue is that many elements of the game don't start till the mainland has reached and it made the game feel boring. The proper solution would have been to let those things start on the starterisland. e.g. crafting certification can easily be done there, and more important more in lore.

For example. You arrive in Kenarthi's roost at Eagle's strand. Besides the normal quests, you also have a quest there. The person mentions your clothes (soulshriven) and advices you to go to mistral to get lessons in how to craft your own gear. Once in Mistral the normal certification happens. Onceat the mainland, you start doing the writs.

Same for the mages and the fighters guild.
Mages guild: you find a quest that asks you to get a book. Once you found it and return it to the questgiver, he thanks you and tells you, you are quicker then most mages. Then you ask what that is and he explains and sents you to Mistral to join them. There you join the guild. Once you pick up the first lorebook in the mainland, you actually get summoned to the guildhall to meet valaste and start the quests as usual.
fighters guild: someone has a quest for you where he challenges you for a fight. You are victorious and he tells you, you should join the fightersguild in mistral. there you join the guild. Once you kill your first daedra on the mainland, you are summoned to the guildhall to meet sees-all-colours and start the regular questline.

This way you solve the issue that the game starts too slow, but also keep the important tutorial island.