@tempusfelix

That's definitely the reason, but there's a really easy solution: they could suggest a different server instead of the largest one.

There are lots of reliable servers that have good track records going back years, they could have a pool of them and regularly rotate which one is suggested to new people.

This is what they used to do ages ago before there was an official app, they would regularly close mastodon.social and tell people to sign up on a specific other server.