Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online

[Mao]

I know there's a few folks who appear around here who play.  I have to say I'm liking it thus far.  While it won't break me of my WoW addiction, I find the skill system refreshing (and vaguely reminiscent of some of my old MMO favorites) and the flexibility it provides far superior to a class based system.. but also easier to mess up than a class based system as such.  The graphics, while not anything to write home about, and still fairly good, though I haven't yet been able to get it to go into anything more than a medium sized window on my screen, so maybe there's bits I haven't seen yet.

I personally find some aspects of it very confusing, but given that this is a 'closed' beta, it's not a shocker.  Beyond that, where it's still very new, there's very little written about it and how to navigate these confusing items, and so far any 'help' I've gotten has been hostile/rude at best so if you aren't up for a bit of abuse and trial and error, this might not be for you.

All in all though I think it's going to be good.  Certainly not a WoW killer, but it'll have it's place on the playing field.

[Magic]

Supplementary guide to SMT: Imagine for those interested, or already playing it:
(meant to be read after going through the tutorial)

You can control your demon directly by using [Tab] to switch to demon control. (You can return to directly controlling your character with Tab as well.) This is useful because your demon can't target who to heal (even if you press the function key for it) unless you directly control it. You can set demon AI to never attack and always heal, though, increasing the likelihood it will heal you on it's own.

The problem with SMT demon AI is that there are -too many- skills to use and it will have trouble trying to decide what to do. If you're bleeding to death, it's quite likely you should try to fiddle around with the settings until you can settle on an effective strategy.

Armor barely does anything. You survive by using and training your skills. With a melee weapon, you can stave off death easily. So long as you are quick on the draw with shortcuts. You'll want to avoid GUARDing against mobs with the word 'Turbulent' above their names, though.

If you're using a gun, you'll want to have a familiar with you that has a better attack than 'punch'; that means NOT getting a Kodama or a Fairy but instead getting a Cait Sith or if you still have it, the Cerberus.

You can get a free shotgun and a few bullets from the weapons vendor. Just talk to the guy about guns. If you finish the quest, you'll get a free pistol, too. As a note, you can NEVER have enough ammo.

So far there is no 'Blunt' skillset, only 'Blades', therefore swords are your best bet for ever reaching full damage potential as a melee character in the 'closed' beta.

I've never played a mage build, so I wouldn't know. I only ever use Dia, which is heal. Thing about that skill is, if you're alone, you're better off using it after a battle rather than during.

Garm or Angel is a good starting familiar. If you're really in a pinch, a leveled Kodama. (Kodama get Dia if you level them up a bit). Angels have a 50% to heal as a special feature of theirs, and start off with Dia. Angels used in support role can save your life, period. They're not only there for looks. As a note, though, they are expensive to summon especially if they level up, but as they do level up they gain status clearing skills you might find quite useful.

This is a harsh fact of life in SMT: Imagine; Wrong skill is death.

USE - AGAINST
Dodge - Shot, Rapid
Counter - Attack, Rush
Guard - Attack, Spin
Rush - Guard
Attack - Counter (it hurts more if you rush into a counter as opposed to just probing it with a hit)
Shot - Counter (or, you can avoid damage altogether by using a gun or magic)
Warp to Homepoint stone - being attacked by more than one enemy (You can't hold off two demons outside of Act 0, period, the tutorial really -really- misleads you on this one, trust me.)

When something glows red, and it's looking at you, use COUNTER, not GUARD. RUSH is almost always a red glow coming up from under the mob or player casting it. Learn to train your reflexes to instinctively aim for COUNTER as soon as you see it. If your counter is still recharging, you're screwed unless you can interrupt the monster. Do everything to avoid this scenario. Always use GUARD for regular attacks unless the mob is dying anyway and you want to finish it off.

Gunners take note, you use a different strategy to cope with an imminent RUSH; since you can only ever use COUNTER, you have to buy as much time as it takes for you to load and shoot, rinse and repeat. Layer your defenses:
Primary - interrupting the monster's attacks with SHOT
Secondary - COUNTER
Tertiary - if the enemy is close and your COUNTER is charging, use RAPID

Your survival also depends on how well you can multitask by using your familiar as well as your own skills in concert.

You can move during and after charging up your GUARD skill. This is essential for buying enough time to respond to an attack. Gunners don't ever need to use GUARD, though, as SHOT is too slow to counterattack with.

--

A couple of proper points of conduct to take note of

1) Those blue orbs near Home III are part of a quest. Don't fiddle with them unless you're actually doing said quest.

2) When you see a player with a [...] speech balloon and a mob with a [...] speech balloon. Avoid them. Do not attack the mob with the [...] speech balloon. The player is trying to negotiate with the demon. A player MAY be spending upwards to 3000 macca trying to get the demon to come to him or her. So please, for the love of all that is holy, do not kill said demon.

[Teroniss]

I find the idea that they combined the Persona concept of weaponry and character appearance with the Nocturne system and world rather amusing. I havent had much chance to try it yet, but hope to remedy that soon