I\'ve just downloaded the game today and extracted everything.
Like most of you here, I too had trouble entering the game, which took me here to get some info and help. It only took me 15 minutes to get the game running.
I did not go through those port 13331 and UDP on my router at all. And, WinXP does NOT have a problem with the game at all.
Basically, what I did to get the game running are:
1. I deleted all names that I\'ve created first (that failed connections).
2. Then, ran the Plainshift Updater (which was suggested by one of the members).
3. Created my NEW character.
4. I used the server IP 203.81.47.74 that was suggested.
5. Created my Username
6. created my password. (At first my password had 10 characters which did not let me connect. so, I took out the NUMBERED characters from my password.)
7. Lucky 7! I\'m in the game!
I\'m not sure if password does not allow numerals. Can anyone confirm this?
Anyway... I logged out of the game because I had no idea how to get around the game... I needed more time reading the manual/tutorials.

I love the detailed graphics of the environment!
GOOD LUCK everyone!