1- No, I don't think you have to PvP at all if you don't want to.
2- I haven't got to higher levels myself but I hear that many monsters take considerable skill to solo and its best to have a friend.
3- The preorder headstart begins Apr 28th.

I was a clicker for all 5 years of my WoW(and other MMO) experience. I'm playing TERA now using only WASD and hotkeys and I am loving it because of how easy it was to adopt. Really, if you've been an arrow key user or clicker this is one of the best opportunities to change that- most games are WASD based anyway and you will become a better, or at least more adaptable player in other MMOS if you can quit the clicking and/or arrow keys :)

I really could not understand what these had to do with me as I skittered around the newb zone. I kept thinking it was someone near me doing it, but it turned out not to be so. Confusing indeed!

This is what was on the Answers area of the site:

https://tera-support.enmasse.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/232/kw/character

It looks like you can keep your character from open beta even if you buy after the launch start. It seems to infer that your character will be available to play once you buy the game. I've heard also that there will be a wave of the non-paying beta character creations being deleted to free up names but I don't remember where I heard it, or when that would be.

Its not normal. I've had what you describe happen when I already had a character created on that server it errored out and kicked me back, but never when it was my first character on the server. The name just turns red and you have to try a different one. If you're trying to figure out a name, just enter it before you do anything, and it will appear above your character's head if it is available. Then proceed with customizing.

I love the character models. Not just artistically pleasing, but graphically pleasing. Such animated and expressive faces!

I'm enjoying the music- RIFT is a game I stopped playing, and I realized that lack of a soundtrack was a big reason for my disinterest in the world.

I feel like there is something for me to learn in every battle- not instantly go, "oh this is my most efficient attack, time to stand and spam, collect loot"

I'm grouping with my husband and some friends on most sessions, and everything is very group friendly. I completely stopped playing Champions Online because group questing was so absolutely broken.

And this is the big one- the camera and controls are remarkably smooth and intuitive despite being completely different than any MMO I've played before. This was an issue in SWTOR, I felt like I always had to jerk the camera around and it was never where I really wanted it to be. But with TERA... I don't need to be a spell clicker anymore :p Its that easy!

I guess its different for each server. I would have been thrilled to see just a few more folks in world last night, this being launch and all.

I vote for Aman too, the first one you created looks really great :)

Well, we're optimistic enough to have spent the money on the game. That's good enough for me! If it keeps me busy for at least a month, its money well spent.

But yeah, that feeling one got when rezzing in Elwynn Forest or Teldrassil for the first time? Probably not going to happen again. But I don't expect that of any game.

My husband bought it, and when I tried it for myself, I liked it enough to where I thought it would be nice to join him. The thing that hooked me personally though, is the gorgeous character models.