Yessss!

1.) Yes... you'll be randomly assigned a zone to start... to end you can get inside any zone. You need to get past the gate to win.
2.) No, sorry, the Games Master will randomly place one player per zone to start.
3.) No penalty at all... the GM will rollthedice to see which zone you start in.
4.) Mainly because I wanted an obvious threshold to cross into the zone, but also in case 50 people suddenly decide to join in this game, I'll have somewhere to put everyone.
5.) No, I'll place everyone directly in the center of their zone, and then any additional others will go to the sides, etc...