Thanks for all the welcomes! I'm certainly putting some effort into improving though I'll admit some rounds are rather frustrating. Even if I'm 1:22 at this point, clunking someone with my mace is very satisfactory. Probably would have been wiser to start with a supporting role, however!
I've played other persistant-ized versions of games before (one for Company of Heroes springs to mind) and this one is significantly less horrible to new players. At least in this one you can fall back on supporting instead of Championing and actually make tangible gains. Originally when I watched gameplay I expected it to be the usual "keep what you kill" sort of XP / Level gain, and figured I (and other newbies) would be doomed to being fodder for lack of kills. Upon asking and discovering that XP (almost) completely divorced from kills, I decided to take the plunge.
No, it's the other way around, at least in Japanese.
They have no "L" sound, so they replace it with an R.
Kinda. Years ago in high school I asked around about this at a Japanese Language Club. There's something like an L, but it's pronounced like a hybrid between L and R in English. Certainly distinctive; I was never particularly good, but it sounded kind of like Lurr or perhaps Ljurr, if I were to follow the head-lady's brother. Additionally, it's a character that's only in their alphabet reserved for foreign words, so exposure is lessened. That said, I'm by no means an expert (Estudié Español, no Japonés), so I'm probably off somewhere.
M.