Yea you really have to start to know the game and then you come out the top character at your level. I started a long time ago as a soldier, gimped everything. I changed and found an NT(nano technician) theyre the equivalent of the spellcasters in other games. I got him to 55 I think, kinda gimped him really, well than I made an adventurer. I got him to 64, playing free, and then really I couldnt find places to level so I bought all the expansions for 10$ and 35$ for 3 monthes, it was very worth it IMO, you get basically 50%+ more game. well I got him to 153, made an NT got him to 106 I think, but I havent played ina month about, I just really havent felt like playing, end game stuff didnt seem to promising, but I wasnt close to it but really It got really hard. The community isnt bad at all and im sure people can help you a lot if you ask. The game also isnt very demanding with hardware, it uses DX7 so the graphics arent 100% upto date but by no means are they horrible, I find them unique kinda.