-Its getting really old, really fast having 'First Striked' by every single enemy I face. Right off the bat I'm at a disadvantage...that's pretty fair, right? I'll tell you what'll be more fair is a stat which determines who attacks first, or better yet a coin toss. 50/50 is ok odds, yes?
-Stuff seems rather expensive in the game which leads to eon long farming, but I could just be barking in the dark on this one, since the plus side is at least you can buy (nearly) whatever you want as long as you got the coinage. But I'm broke after buying my potions! I think you might want to iron out what's expensive and what's super cheap to keep people saving up for worthwhile goodies.
-Fighting lower-leveled enemies should stay with a handicapped loss of exp. and money, but maybe it should be a simple formula (-25%) instead of some algebraic formula [(-%25) + (-%10 per level higher)]. Its slow enough to fight lower leveled enemies, please don't tax me.
-Ok, now the equipment being damaged upon defeat crap. Unless you're supreme commander in the Arena, you're gonna lose X number of times and screw yourself into debt/monster farming. Equipment being damaged during a random battle is great, but it is necessary for all who play this game to also play arena battles for Valor Points' sake...oh, somebody already suggested this. Gosh darn it, even still!
-Last but not least...leveling up magic is rather awkward, right? Its like blacksmithing plus farming plus a bank withdrawal. Maybe I'm not seeing it from the proper angle, but essence gathering seems a very specific hoop to jump through even among the other garbage.
Now to end on a good note: Professions are coming along nicely, despite the daunting time required to level up. Good stuff. Blacksmithing = awesome. Level 16 required for dragon is retarded, but I've something to look forward to. Auction = nearly perfect.
-Ooh, I forgot to start my account via Facebook, and now see no way to link my character to my preexisting Facebook acct. Can that be done?