Welcome to PlaneShift and the forums, Exile
This game is a bit of an oddity in several ways - for one, the most important point to remember is that it is a work in development (we're only on version 0.3, and you have come just in time to see the release of version 0.3.017). It is created by people who volunteer their time and effort, so there's no money involved anywhere (even the server is donated) and we're all here basically to have a blast making and playing an MMORPG. Progress can be a bit slow sometimes, especially when you find that you have to wait two months in between releases for some bug fixes, but anything really major that prevents gameplay is taken care of quite quickly, and we have a friendly community to help you out if you get stuck with some problem.
Second, PlaneShift strongly emphasizes the role play of the MMORPG. Players are highly encouraged to act as their characters when they are in-game - talking from their point of view, developing personalities and behaviors, and experiencing the world through their eyes. If you've never roleplayed before, don't worry - we do have some guides available, and if you are willing to learn, you will find yourself welcomed in every corner
If you already have some experience with roleplay, then may it expand and blossom!
Third, and a bit of a combination of the previous points, is that there is no "one thing" that you have to do at the moment when you step into the game. You can start to explore the land, try some NPC quests, make friends, find a guild, slay some monsters, etc. The amount of activities within the game is rather limited at the moment, but as the world expands, so will your options, and we hope that you stick around to see PlaneShift grow.
What I think of the game: it has a lot of potential. We're taking baby steps to something really amazing, and the effort that both the developers and the players put into it is quite promising. Overall, there are many friendly people always willing to lend out a hand, and as long as you can deal with some technical issues like bugs and occasional server instability, you can have a lot of fun. It may get tiring if you enter the game with a hack-and-slash mindset - meaning that you're here just to level your character and get all the best stats and all the coolest items - because the game just isn't big enough at the moment for something like that. But if you stay to make friends and roleplay and create adventures in the world as it exists right now, it can become very addicting.
So once again welcome, and enjoy :]
