My group is starting up a new story arc centering around the politics of a return to the First Age. That said, no knowledge of Exalted is needed and my best players have been unspoiled by the forums echo-chamber.
All character types (minus Sidereals) are open - including non-Exalt types. If playing a non-Celestial Exalt (or something like a god, fae, jadeborn etc-), you'll be compensated with age + experience to bring you on-par with the Celestials.
Lunars are not using their core splatbook, but an alternate book called Terrifying Argent Witches that gives them a lot more options. For comparison, it's structured very similarly to the way 2e Infernals are set up.
We've also removed a lot of the rocket-tag aspects of 2e in the interest of making every character concept truly viable - you are not required to be combat-capable to survive this game.
We play every Friday night from roughly 8-Midnight EST. Reach out if you're interested, or I can answer questions here.
Here's a quick Slides introduction to the game in case you want to read more.
Here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F7WuR_gYttotusyELZZlZz2VKm6vCj-oOYWOuBIWgTw/edit#slide=id.p (https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F7WuR_gYttotusyELZZlZz2VKm6vCj-oOYWOuBIWgTw/edit#slide=id.p)
I also have an Obsidian Portal.
Here: https://thedragonsshattered.obsidianportal.com/
And an interview I gave after being recognized for Campaign of the Month on Obsidian Portal - giving some insights into how I work:
Here: https://blog.obsidianportal.com/obsidian-portal-campaign-of-the-month-january-2022-lakes-of-blood-and-ash/
looks really nice, good job.