This is a not so brief analysis of a first time player (very important person go grab hold of) who jumped in the game and played for an hour.  Disclaimer: I realize this is alpha and most of these things might well be planned and aren\'t functioning.  Take this with a grain of salt as an ideal of where I would like to see the BASICS of this game headed.

SETUP:
-A setup.exe with pieces might make a bit more sense for installation than having a batch file reconstruct them.

-Why isn\'t server info included in the initial setup, I can\'t imagine why I had to go find the server and put it in at this stage with only 1 available server + constant updates (i.e. if servers were changed a new file would be linked)

-Cut/Paste shortcuts Cntrl+C/V don\'t work, hence i had to manually imput the server.  Small and silly thing to not have in a game.

STARTUP UI:
-Restructure the initial UI, put create character options AFTER connecting to the initial server as it makes more sense and is more typical.  The initial screen should look something like Connect/Options/Exit at its most basic.

-The options menu is severely underutilized at this point (yes its alpha I know!).  Add an area to configure controls.  The basic tree should be graphics/sound/control/gameplay/possibly network.

-Expanding on the controls tree, add ability to reassign all keys to whatever as well as mouse options (mousespeed, etc).

-Expanding on gameplay tree, options like AutoRun (no, not what the R key does, but like permanently holding down Shift), and similar features would be placed in here (mouselook, etc.).

INGAME UI:
-Targeting system is pretty bad atm.  If you really can\'t make it more 3d intuitive, then make a small bar across the bottom (wherever) that indicates what is selected (and have the various options, Hand, etc on the same bar).  The floating window is a UI nightmare imo.  Ideally one should be able to target a thing, then either hit a hotkey to perform a typical action or use intuitive mouseclicks (left mouse = most obvious action upon given object), or select from a group of icons.

-Mouselook should be on by default, and to activate the chat window, use Tab, T (for type), etc.  Being in chatmode should still allow one to perform basic things still, like mouselook.  A player shouldn\'t be fighting the game to chat, just use the age old (and good) system of hit key to chat, chat, back to game mode.

GAMEPLAY, etc:
-Viewbob, I currently feel like a ghost!  Add amount of viewbob option under gameplay .

-Stair physics need work, alot of 3d games have this problem.  Climbing stairs is a jarring experience

-Collision physics if possible to add without massive cpu drain, etc., should be a little more soft on at least selective objects (like rocks down in the caves), and edges (to avoid catching, stopping abruptly).

-Not much to comment on true gameplay because as its alpha there isn\'t alot.  What I see for skills, etc. looks fabulous!  Beware mindless combat, I know lag is an issue but there needs to be something more than click and sit back.  I\'ll probably write up a combat issue exploration if everyone doesn\'t boo me after this post.

CONTENT:
-Beware loads of empty content!  A big city with houses I can\'t do anything with is MMORPGS biggest fault to date imo.  I would rather have a small, MEMORABLE city with locations I can actually interact with.

-While I understand texture/space/bandwidth issues in a city, make an effort for areas to look distinct and memorable.  Landmarks and non-repetitive houses help immensely.  Blizzard has applied \"sections\" to a city for its mmorpg and its a great idea.  Each section has a unique color theme (roof colors), playertype identity (a magic user section, etc), and architectural style.

-If I can\'t do anything with the building, don\'t waste my bandwidth/space by putting it in!  Make something I can deal with more complex instead!

FINAL WORDS:
-UI comes first, game content second.  Create a game system that works intutively and THEN fill your world with content.  Because content is only fun if you\'re not fighting the UI!

-While it may seem I\'m dissing your game im not!  It looks fantastic for alpha/free software.  Exactly BECAUSE of this I\'m taking the time to write this up, because I\'ve thought someone should do this for a long long time and am glad someone finally is!  These are all intended to be constructive criticisms taken with an ALPHA grain of salt  Keep up the great work!

Dan