I just made it through my first “dungeon” with Fico. Since there’s just about zero documentaiton for this game I thought I’d share a few tips we’ve found. Hopefully it’ll ease early frustrations and help you get to playing the actual game faster:

1. Holding down the alt key will bring up Alt-text tags for your groupmates and unclaimed loot(just like Dungeon Siege). This is essential for finding hidden treasure chests, locating group members who’ve wandered off screen, etc. You can also double click the text to run toward friends and vendors.

2. Zones have “Districts”.. which are just instances/shards of the same zone. If you’re trying to locate a friend in-town but they’re invisble, then check your district! Holy crap this was annoying to figure out. You can switch your district by clicking on the pull down box in the upper left hand corner.

3. You can use the arrow keys, WASD, or the mouse to move.

4. AFAIK You can only invite people into your group by clicking on their character in person.

5. Don’t enter any of the missions without a full squad. Holy crap.

6. As a warrior I initially thought I had to micromanage my fights but it’s a helluva lot easier to just lock onto a target and take it down. If a bad guy gets through your line and out to your casters - don’t freak out! Your mates can usually help themselves get through small problems. Just keep on an eye out on their health.

7. Don’t go solo. Find friends.

8. Make sure your squad sticks together! Communicate! This game is harder than others when it comes to keeping track of everyone. Use the mini-map in the lower right hand screen to find friends and locate threats. Once your group gets into a groove things become easier.

9. Pull up the map by using the ‘m’ key, and then left click to zoom all the way out. Um.. can you say ginormos world map? You can instantly jump to any of the dots. Avoid the red ones for now, they are BAD..ASS.

10. You can shrink chat window and still see chat text.

I was concerned about the game’s taste the first stint I had with it. Once I realized what the heck was going on, the game became less “loose” and I no longer felt completely lost. I’m digging my time in beta right now, and considering the fact that the monthly fee is zilch.. I’m very impressed with it. Otherwise I’d be forced to compare this game to EQ2 or WoW, and it’s just not the same type of game.