Mabinogi

[bigstinkie]

spike sama i bow respectfully before speaking
the games population has indeed declined over the decades, but adjustments have been made accordingly - namely, for example, the north american servers were merged into one large server, with 'channels' in the server serving as a way to prevent hundreds of players on your screen at one time (you can freely switch between channels with just two clicks after logging in)

this image i believe i took on a weekday evening - this is one of the main hub areas in the game on channel 1 of the main na server
i suppose my point being you will be swamped by players in any of the hotspots and since everyone is a chatterbox getting help for the more difficult content is very easy
for your other question - i believe there is no open pvp of any kind unless you are one of the races hated by some other race, then you can flag yourself for pvp but only for and against the races you hate honestly i don't really understand it myself
and i do not know what pk means
i hope these answered your questions

 

[LastValsion]

There are still plenty of people playing yes and you will see channels one to four (or five) usually busy at certain times of the day. As for PvP there no real penalty for PvP and you can challenge anyone you want anywhere or in battle arenas. Guild PvP is a thing but I don't see it often. If you are races like Elf or Giant then they are natural enemies and if you enable a certain option then you will be subject to attack from said race and their human allies at any time and anywhere.

Other than the normal PvP you can duel each others pets.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Didn't they have a Frieren collab not too long ago?

 

[bigstinkie]

yes

 

[LastValsion]

But that collab ended some time ago. Now there are some new events and summer master plan is going to come soon which would be a good time for new players to join. With the latest update to guilds it would be recommended to join one for the perks they have now.