players. New players are encouraged to stay safe by having weapons and armor on at all times, with most factions having armor and weapon stocks specifically for arming newer players. Factions Law Enforcement Department (Global Dominion: Police) Freedom Defense Corps (Global Dominion: Military) Galactic Intelligence Service (Global Dominion: Secret Service) Colonization and Mining Guild (Corporation: Mining) Eurocore (Corporation: Production) Vortex Inc. (Corporation: Transport) The Brotherhood of the Shadows (Clan: Gangs) Mercenaries of the Blood (Clan: Mercenaries) Guardians of Mankind (Clan: Freedom Fighters and Diplomats) Civilian Faction (Normal Players) Ongoing gameplay Much of Face of Mankind play involves performing objectives, either alone or through the group system. These objectives are automatically generated when playing alone, or generated by way of starting the group when in a group. Objectives reward the player with some experience points and Faction Credits. Objectives commonly involve killing a number of other players, gathering a certain number of resources, patrolling a world, guarding specific locations, and many other objectives. Faction Credits are traded in for Universal Credits four times a day depending on faction payout standards and the amount of Faction Credits earned by all players in the faction. Experience points earned allow players to gain higher ranks in their faction when appropriately ranked members of the faction see fit to promote them. Depending on the current political situations, some factions may be at war with each other allowing players of opposing factions to fight each other with fewer penalties and even take over opposing factions' worlds. World occupation consists of several hours of combat and hacking that eventually leads to a roughly hour-long final battle for the world, where hundreds of players can be fighting for control. Characters can be permanently killed off if they both run out of clones and Universal Credits to buy new clones. The game also has a completely closed economy. All revenues earned come from players paying for it. Game statistics were able to show which faction had the best income, per week. Premium subscription Face of Mankind was free to play, offering a premium subscription as well as some items available as bonuses for purchasing certain subscriptions. Some of the premium bonuses include faster spawning, increased item storage, and ability to get the highest ranks in factions and even become faction leaders. History and important changes Closed Beta testing started in April 2004, and the first phase of Open Beta