Thinking of getting game, but got some ??'s

[bobturke]

I have been reading some reviews and the FAQ ect... to try to decide if I want to get this game or not. But I can't find answers to a few things.

1. Is there camping? Having to have large groups to kill a bad mob for 1 item of loot that gets doled out the the special few? Is there items that you have to get/make/buy to be competitive with others... uber loot, must have items?

2. Are there kinds of chars that are "must haves" in groups to where a group is going to be made up of only certain ppl and if you aren't one of them you wont be invited to group?

3. Since it is skill based, as a causual player will I be able to group with my friends even if they play alot more than me or will I be left behind in the dust just like in a level based game?

4. How is the game for solo play? Sometimes I don't feel like grouping, how viable is it to solo?

5. Is this one of those games that caters to giant guilds? Or are small guilds able to compete so to say just as well?

6. I read that you only get 250 skill points total, can you ever untrain something if down the road you don't want it anymore? Will this become an option later on if not?

7. And last but not least, PVP. So far it is consentual only, will this ever be changed? Will there ever be full PVP areas?

I think that is most of my questions . Thanks for any info you can give me.

1. Not really. Currently there is no item loot it is all raw materials for crating items. Some named mobs are camped a little as they can drop better mats, but there are many other options also so its not an issue to date AFAIK.

2. Not in my experience although must groups like to have at least 1 tank and 1 good healer

3. Yes you can still play.

4. Solo is viable at least as far as level 100.

5. Dont know until the guild orientated content gets added.

6. The highest any skill level can go to is 250. but there are many many many skills and you can try getting them all to 250.

There is no untrain as yet. One or two bad decisions dont really ruin a character enough to make you want to reroll. At low levels skill points are tight but midlevels and above you can buy everything you need (and much you don't).

7. There is already at least 1 full PvP area the Mantis Arena. There will probably be more PvP as guild fight each other for control of outposts and the like.

[larsa]

This all sounds good, but I was pretty well sold anyway. What good are outposts, why would you fight over them? What are 'mats'? I've seen that mentioned before as in, "There aren't any 50 mats in Tryker territory."

Hehe, "mats" is Atys slang for "materials". All items in-game are made from either harvested or looted materials, and they are important because the raw materials define quality and other stats of the item.

Outposts are camps in the wild, destroyed now through the Kitin wars of the past, that can be acquired by guilds via guild missions, i.e. a guild accepts the mission to rebuild and to defend the outpost. This is supposed to be part of the high-level "end-game", outposts might get attacked both by NPC mobs (through GM events) and by hostile guilds. Note that this is a future feature and still pretty much on the design table - thus don't blame me if Nevrax decides to implement it some way or another.