If the steam thing happens, the "in-game sale" to new players will be much easier than it was when I came on board. I had to be convinced that it was worth spending 15 bucks a month, and the game and the players in it had 15 days to make that happen. Now, someone just has to convince a newcomer to dedicate some of their gaming time to AH.
If a player had not befriended me and showed me how to do some stuff to get started, I would never have stayed the course.
I hope there are enough people like that, who will welcome new members and get them engaged, that the community continues to grow in a way we all want. The only thing we would be fighting at that point is a learning curve. But this game has so many cool steps along the way, and small successes and achievements, that it should be able to keep the attention of even the most ADHD-afflicted of today's gamers...