Does it get better or lively after lvl 10?

[Niwashi]

the npcs aren't attacking me automatically when i go near them. normally, npcs have a red status bar and ready to attack automatically when go you near.

It's not actually the status bar, but the icon next to their name that tells whether the mob will attack on sight or not. This wiki page gives a listing of icons in the game, and if you go down to the "Mob Difficulty Icons" section, you'll see the ones I'm talking about. The "Passive" row of blue icons indicates mobs that won't attack you unless you attack them first. The "Aggressive" row of red/yellow icons indicate mobs that will attack on sight.

The color of the status bar indicates whether you have engaged that mob. It will be yellowish when nobody has engaged a mob, red when you have engaged it, and purple when someone else has engaged it. (In the case of multiple people or parties engaging the same mob, the color will indicate who engaged it first.)

In the areas right next to the starting cities' gates with mobs at levels 1-5 or so, that area is designed for new players still trying to figure out how to activate skills, so the mobs are all passive. As you move into higher level areas, there are a mix of both passive and aggressive mobs.

anti-social means not helpful, not friendly, non-responsive or having an elitist,throw-to-the-wolves,watch-you-fail attitude without responding or by being quiet.

It wasn't a comment about not knowing what it means, just surprise that you found such a reaction. It's pretty uncommon. It is true that global chat channels like /shout are frequently silent (as the majority of chat actually takes place within Free Companies ("guilds" by several other MMOs' terminology) or Linkshells (private chat channels). But asking a question will usually bring several people in to answer. Most players like feeling they can be helpful to someone, especially to new players.


Oh, and the game will get significantly more social after level 15, when you get to group dungeons. At that point, you start needing to play in groups for certain portions of the content. Before then, grouping is just for those who choose to group up for social reasons.