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First Impressions
Grr, stupid computer went back when I wanted to hit backspace and lost all of what I wrote originally 
I guess I will have to resort to writing this is notepad (wahoo). OK anyways. I have been wanting to give this little game a try for quite some time now and finally got up the motivation to download it and register (found out I already had a nexon account from maple story). And right off the bat I could tell that this was MUCH higher quality than 95% of all other f2p games (I primarily play p2p). Just the depth of the characters and the interactions with NPCs had so much more thought to them than poorly worded interactions in games like Flyff or Rose. I love skill-based and what I found extraordinary is that I had been writing up skills for an MMO-idea I had for obtaining skills like you were growing up and sonovabitz that is exactly what this game does.
So really my MMO-idea wasn't an exact match, but the skill system is damn close. What did I like? Well, like I said the NPCs and character development are great. The ability to do more than fight is great. The whole idea of age (although slightly confusing) was a very different approach. Combat is difficult (kinda like this) and the seperation of Jobs vs. Quests. It's like someone actually read the MMORPG forums and made a game based off it hahaha.
What I didn't like? Actually although the combat was difficult, the "Rock, Paper, Scissors" approach to every fight started to get really lame, really quick. Half of my time is spent waiting for the monsters to attack so I can counterattack. Or even worse when its like 3v1 and I can't get a single skill off because I'm being batted around the room like a friggan ragdoll. OK. Combat I didn't particularly like.
I also disliked how closely learning skills was tied to gaining stats. Maybe I don't want to learn how to be a warrior. But if I don't then my stats will suffer. Boo to that. So basically to become a great warrior I must first learn how to play instruments, sew, farm, write, read, shave sheep, milk cows, build campfires, and whatever else the developers decided to put in there. Some of it makes sense, but not all of it.
Maybe I just want another UO so bad that hack and slash + optional crafting skills is what I crave. Anyways I ended up uninstalling the game last night after being frustrated with combat (waiting for AoC to come out anyways). But if anyone has any pointers for not getting my rear handed to me in combat maybe I'll reinstall and try again. Like when I'm getting quests to kill monsters that kill me in 2-3 hits. And there will be like 5 of them at once. Even trying to run and single them out I get stomped. Oh well, maybe I should've stayed in town composing lute versions of all my favorite rock songs.
"They essentially want to say 'Correlation proves Causation' when it's just not true." - Sovrath
Comments
There are several things I'd like to touch on here.
First, the combat system. A lot of mobs in mabi have interesting AI. Although, if you practice long enough, it's easy to kill any mob (other than bosses) completely on your own. You start of on foxes.
Foxes have a few features to note upon. They won't attack unless you directly attack them first(Windmill doesn't count as a direct attack for more than one mob). White spiders are the same, as are red foxes and grey foxes.
Next you have Wolves. Wolves have an interesting AI because they move around a lot. They can use defence, counterattack and smash as skills. They won't attack you unless A: you attack it B:you stay in an aggressive stance within range or C:you kill a wolf within range of the next. You can usually defeat these by using a {counterattack, defence, normal attack} loop, however you could also use a {counterattack, magic attack} loop.
After that you have bears. Bears Require that you have an amazing defence skill and/or a kite sheild, or counterattack and a magic attack. Use the same loops as you used to defeat the wolves, bears just have more health and damage and a faster movespeed.
The rest of the mobs have techniques you can use to defeat them, you just do a little research and you'll find out how.
Now, as for the skills and using them to raise your stats... this is not a bad thing
You might dislike the idea of having to raise your combat mastery to get better at shooting a bow... and so you don't. While some skills are needed to raise stats, you don't need to get them. For example, a pure magician wants high intelligence. A music skill called "musical knowledge" gives a lot of int at a low ability point cost. Weaving gives a lot of dexterity, etc, etc. Your stats wont suffer if you choose not to be a warrior. You'll have less health, but that'll mean you have more AP to put into other skills which will raise your stats in whatever way you need.
Using skills to obtain stats just makes your stats relevant and offers you alternative way to make money. For example, an archer needs dexterity for damage. Weaving will give you lots of extra dex and you can then turn around and sell those clothes for a profit.
Mabinogi severly reduces the amount of "hack and slash" style grinding in-game because of the wide range of quests and jobs you can do.
One thing I did notice about you post is that you didn't mention the titles. Maybe you didn't know, but you can put titles beside your name to increase your stats. For example, "who killed a bear at age ten" gives +5 to all stats. "who killed a bear with bare hands" gives +10 strength and other bonuses. "who killed a bear in a single blow" gives +30 strength and other effects.
This game takes a while to learn. I spent a month in-game before I could stand on my own, but now I can create a new character and 2 hours later be killing Black Grizzly Bears. I like this game because You can't get a good look at it on first impressions.