www.planeshift.it contains most of the information you are looking for.
To sum it up, PlaneShift is an opensource MMORPG that is, and will be, free to play forever. The development team consists of a small number of volunteers from around the world that have joined together to contribute to the project. PlaneShift began as a MUD and started 3D development some years ago. Development is slow, but steady, and there are usually monthly updates. Players are "Testers" of the current pre-alpha version, 0.3, codenamed Crystal Blue. The game style is focused around Roleplaying, so Powerlevelers do not see much love in the community

and everyone is free to suggest ideas and report bugs in order to aid the team in the creation of the game.