Subscription is totally optional. Basically if you choose to subscribe you pay £10 per month, you receive that amount back in Game Gold that can be used to purchase in-game items, you also receive an experience bonus of 0.5% that stacks up with any other experience bonuses such as Rebirth bonus and so on.
Some people may feel like subscribers get all the perks and are hard to compete with, but in reality some of the best kitted out players in the game have not subscribed or donated a penny, and all the uber kit they have has come from drops, quests or events.
PK is still very alive in-game despite what some may say, sabuk wall and last man standing are popular PK events, plus most of the maps other than a few levelling and noob areas are all PK. This may sound "Care Bear" but it is great for new players to get established and levelled up enough to compete with the higher level players.
New caves, mobs and bosses are added frequently, and there is loads of quests and challenges in-game both for solo players and groups.
Anyone wanting to give the server a try, just log in and tell someone your new and almost all players will point you in the right direction or help you out. There is also a new NOOB quest that helps you get started, GM's and other staff are always online.
The server is growing nicely at the moment and new players seem to be impressed with the game and fitting in quite quickly.