(Said with respect, no sarcasm, no troll, same team.)
How do you think they would figure out they need to do that?
The same way that I did. When I found out that you had to wait a long time I wanted to know why, I did a few searches and after researching what it is that I was getting into, I quickly learned that accounts can be powered up.
Assuming they stumble in the place at all?
People that stumble here often find this place after learning about blockchain or at least bitcoins blockchain or for many, just finding out about bitcoin itself (to them they don't even know its blockchain tech etc.) So if they do not stumble here then that means in a weird way, there is nothing more we can do about that because they would have never made it here anyway etc.
With this lady at the front door, how would they know that they need to PAY money to comment here?
Again, the same way that I (would have) (now we have hardfork 20 etc) so once they get here to "turn their voice into something" they will soon see "oh wait, i just tried to comment and can't ok so what do I have to do to comment" etc etc they learn. Then if they want to do what it takes to blog or turn their comment into something they will exchange fiat for steem etc. -THIS IS NOT FACEBOOK- Steemit is a blockchain. Steemit is a place where people using said blockchain utilize steempower to vote on content thus rewarding the content produced by bloggers. I actually found it shocking prior to my blockchain education that a place like this would even allow free entry. It was like telling someone "hey you can sell stuff on ebay AND we will let you borrow a free item (steem given to power up free accounts) to sell first just to help you get started!!! SO ummm yeah, if they really want to learn about the power of Steems blockchain and how its used and realize that this is not INSTAGRAM lol then they will have that powering up a little steem is well worth it as long as they are here to participate in this blockchain and not try to use it as a social media payment source. Huge difference.
They can comment for free anywhere else.
Yeah but they can't earn for commenting free on twitter. Steem allowing free account start up is a great way to get people here but this place would be better with more quality and not quantity. Quality brought by people like me and you that understand that this is a blockchain, a blogging platform, and not snapchat. :) -Truce