I'm pretty sure @Jetah Explained it quite well, although:
Each resource will be needed to build, pretty much anything.
It's about skills and weapon classes, not rng and mindless grinding (I think and I hope).
The Knowledge system will require specific tasks before unlocking a skill.
3 different worlds, animal haven (Mainly PVE), human man land (Law based pvp), and literal hell (Free for all bonanza)
Each character you make has different stats and different amounts of stat points.
I'm assuming PVE won't be too difficult, but who knows.
The News page is very helpful.