>But, unfortuantely, during that entire
>time I have been playing, I have never been able to make it to
>lvl 51.

Best way to make it to 51: don't delete. It also helps to play a class that's popular with ranking groups.

>what other people do to get ready for PK

Choosing the right time to strike is a big part of it. Especially if I'm playing a stealth class. As far as preps go it really depends on the class. With melee classes I might try to have up protection vs. alignment, and maybe resist heat or cold if I expect my opponent to use those. Flight if I'm going into a fight where I need to fear trip. (Usually if I can out-melee my opponent I don't put up flight, since him spamming trip is actually *good* for me.) Reduce or enlarge if it would be beneficial.

Oh, I also have a bunch of aliases defined so that I never have to type my opponent's name. I might have "t" set to "trip BadGuy". That's handy. Sucks when I'm blinded, though.

>to help them exploore

Exploring's not really rocket science. Have return/teleport potions handy if your class can't cast it. Be good about scanning & looking in directions. If you're trying to explore somewhere really dangerous, it helps to assemble the right group of adventurers. I'd wager that 90% of players learn tough areas when they're led there by another player who already knows the area pretty well. That's certainly the case for me.

>to create good roles

Doesn't have to be fancy. Or even crazily creative. Just write down the key events from your character's past that are likely to influence his current mindset and actions. Then make sure to actually *follow through* on the role.

>to gather edge points and spend them accordingly

Edge points come mostly from imm xp, though there are also skill% and stat prerequisites. The best way to get imm xp is to win or place in a role contest, or maybe to play an empowerment class and impress your deity. Can usually also get some if you enter your role early on, like in the first 5 ranks.

As for how to spend your edge points...I just looked at the helpfiles for all the edges my class could get, picked some I wanted to get, then chose them as they became available. At one point the edge I wanted wasn't appearing in my list despite my having lots of points, so I assumed my stats weren't up to snuff and chose something else instead.

>what to look for in terms of areas to learn in

Also not rocket science. You want someplace that lets you earn XP as quickly as possible. Preferably also somewhere you're not likely to be found by people who want to kill you. Or, if they can find you, you want it so you're able to see them coming. As an example, consider the chess board. If you have the key then nobody can get up onto the board to attack you. And if you have a character in your group with locate object then you be absolutely certain you have the only copy of the key.