My boyfriend and I are trying this game out and so far we're intrigued but have a few questions.

Right now, we're both in Atlas Park and it's really cool and all but does the game go very far past that to other areas? If so, how much of the game is centered on Atlas Park or wherever else you chose for your starting city?

What are the missions like? So far, the only real type of quest I've done is "Kill X number of Hellions" and while it's interesting because I've never seen a game like this before, I imagine it'd get boring after a while.

I don't really understand where this game goes or how and I'd like to have a better understanding before I pay for it. How much am I missing out on by playing on a trial account? I know I can't really talk properly with other players but is the gameplay one experiences on a trial account an accurate representation of the actual gameplay once you've paid? Basically what's the average "shelf life" of this game? Would one get bored easily?

I'd appreciate any info you can give me. :)

You haven't seen anything yet. :)

Atlas Park should last you until about level 5. During that time you might also go to Galaxy City, which is pretty similar. (Both are starting zones. Atlas is busier - maybe too busy.)

King's Row will probably be your next stop. It should cover you from 5-10. It's sort of the slums of paragon city, and you'll see that it's dirtier and rundown, with industry mixed against the residential areas. Not as bright and shiny as Atlas park.

10-20 are covered by Skyway City and Steel Canyon. Skyway City is on the surface a network of highways, with more cheaper businesses and homes underneath (as you'd expect to find under a highway). Steel Canyon is where most of the Skyscrapers are, sort of the business center of the city.

20-30 are appropriate to Talos Island (I'd consider it sort of a "downtown" in that there's a lot compressed in a small area) and Independance Port (a 3-mile-long zone that serves as the city's port, with the nuclear power plant on an island in the middle).

30-40 you see Brickstown, another more industrial area not because it's beaten up but because the prison is in the middle. There is also Founders Falls, a wealthy venice-like area with canals for streets and victorian architecture.

And then the main 40-50 zone is Peregrine Island, a mix of several feels with the all-important Portal Corporation headquarters in the north. (It also has islands populated just by giant Monsters or taken over by alien monkeys.)

That's the main zones. You could enter any of them now if you could get there safely. There are also "Hazard Zones" that require a minimum level to enter:

The Hollows (5-20) - used to be a beautiful rural area until a catastrophic excavation by the Trolls gang left it hollowed out.

Perez Park (7-15) is the Central Park of the city, but it's been overrun.

Boomtown (12-20) used to be like Steel Canyon but was destroyed. (To be honest nothing to do there.)

Faultline (15-25) is the home of the city dam. An Earthquake occurred years ago under mysterious circumstances, but it's now being rebuilt by a massive city project.

Striga Island (20-30) is one of the best zones in the game with a progressive story as you move back toward the military base.

Dark Astoria (22-30) was another Steel Canyon like city, except a fog has invaded and daylight never comes. (Again, nothing to do there, but sometimes contacts will send you in.)

Croatoa (25-35) is very rural, home to a university, but infested by witches and spirits.

Crey's Folly (30-40) used to be home of the largest corporation, until the alien invasion years ago destroyed and flooded it.

Eden (32-40) was a beautiful nature area with a few scientific businesses and lots of parkland, until it was taken over by the Devouring Earth.

Cimerora (35-50) is a town in the ancient Roman empire. You can only get there through a special club that permits time travel.

Rikti War Zone (35-50) is the sight of an ongoing war against the aforementioned aliens. Their mothership crashed at the north end.

And I'm forgetting some small ones used just for access, like the "social club" Pocket D or the special time-travel zone Oroboros.

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So you can see there's a TON of places to go after Atlas. Not only that, the missions will really improve too. Until at least level 10 you're really only getting simple, introductory missions against basic gang-like enemies. And there's not much story to them besides getting back stolen jewelery or something. That improves until you have more copmlex missions and connected mission arcs about saving the world.

Where it really takes off is with travel powers at level 14. When you can fly, jump, or run across huge zones in a minute, you really get around more and see a lot more of the game. But ultimately a lot of it takes place in instances like you've probably already seen, where you go into a building and that's where the enemies are. (The benfit of that is that any mission can handle 1-8 people, you don't have to find the "right" one.)

"Shelf-Life" varies. I'd say if you like what you see by the teens you could be entertained for 6 months. Those of us who stay tend to create many different characters since they can really play very differently. (One of my gripes against other games is similar everything is, how melee guys still get ranged attacks and everyone wears armor. None of that here!) You definitely should try to get on teams besides the two of you, though it's hard with the limits of a trial account.

And stay out of the Architect Entertainment building! It's a very new addition for user-created content, but also a blackhole that keeps people from experiencing the real game.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask any followup questions you have.

Wow, that sounds exciting, thank you so much for the information! I was wondering how people got to do all that awesome flying and stuff. D

Just have to say, excellent post, Amarsir!

x101, to expand just a little bit:

If the tutorial teaches you how to use the controls and interface, Atlas Park and Galaxy City teach you how to play. Those zones are where you first encounter large quantities of other players and all hte social stuff that accompanies them - costume contests, broadcast tells, zone events like zombie attacks, blind invites. You'll still have "defeat ___ baddies" missions as you level up, but you'll be fighting different groups that all pose unique challenges. And they frequently lead to multi-part missions.

Plus, the geography of other zones will add additional challenge/frustration. Independence Port is over 2 miles long and less than a quarter of a mile wide. Brickstown has many mission doors that are below street-level. Faultline is a somewhat vertical zone. Perez Park has trees that "grow" so tight that you can't jump through the leaves.