Be careful not getting "rammed"
Ah ha… ho ho ho…
Tragedy has befallen me.
After being lucky and having my friend score me a CE box due to not realizing it’s a pre-order only item (not shelf item), my 50" Panasonic took a nose dive this morning. No MOTHERFKKING TV TO PLAY ON!!!
FML 
Pretty much any normal NPC who can be killed for items will eventually turn into an evil Hollow before they can drop said items. So, don’t worry about killing NPCs until later in the game.
NPC TO WATCH FOR
Spoiler
Knight Lautrec will kill the Firelink Shrine Firekeeper, but you want to let this happen. Once the Firekeeper is killed, you can check her body and get an Evil Eye Orb which can be used to summon Lautrec in Anor Londo and retrieve the Firekeeper’s soul. Killing Lautrec in this fashion will net you his equipment set (killing him at any other time will not). Also, you can use the soul to revive the Firekeeper. NOTE: You don’t get his armor from killing him, but you get it from a corpse in Anor Londo after killing him.
ANOTHER NPC TO WATCH
Spoiler
Eventually there will be four NPC members of the Way of White covenant. Petrus, Nico, Vince, and Rhea. At one point Nico and Vince become hollow and Rhea sends you to kill them. After you kill Nico and Vince and complete the Tomb of the Giants area, you must immediately go back to the Undead Parish and speak with Rhea. If you visit two other areas before talking to Rhea, then Petrus will have killed her.
Also, you can “sell” items for souls after you ring the second Bell.
I had also heard a lot of new players end up not finding the stones to rate/leave messages and to summon Blue Phantoms.
Also, it’s about time you can sell your extra items. It was one of my few complaints with Demons Souls.
Weapons
Spoiler
What’s this I hear about a powerful sword findable early in the game?
I’m a little ticked Best Buy didn’t have an Collector’s Edition online or in store after I had pre-ordered, but I got a $20 giftcard out of it, so maybe I’ll get the strategy guide.
This game is way more fun than I thought it would be. Glad I bought it (Plus got a $20 gift card from KMart. Probably use it for Generations).
The Orange Soapstone (message writing) is bought from the first merchant that you encounter in the Undead Burg. It cost 100 souls.
The White Soapstone (summoning) is given by the NPC that’s across from the dragon on the bridge in the Undead Burg.
WEAPON
Spoiler
You get the Drake Sword by shooting arrows at the dragon’s tail. You can do this safely from under the bridge.
Fuck! So I accidentally attacked the fat soldier dude back at the original campfire area and then his buddy, some priestess chick, and the guy who teaches heal all attack me. Finally was able to kill them all but fuckkkk. I tried to dashboard as soon as they attacked me but it’s too late.
Will I come across another npc that can teach me the other heal spell and what good was that chick for?
Well this is great. Wake up early to pick up the game so I can play it a bit before work and the fucking thing won’t load past the first god damn screen. Just a little pile of something flashing yellow for 15 minutes now.I’m assuming it’s something wrong with me ps3, my luck.
Unfortunately, no. There are two merchant NPCs for each spell type (and then some random merchants that sell a spell here and there). You just killed both the Miracle merchants. Petrus and Rhea.
Spooty, the first NPC you mentioned did his thing and I got the item, but how do I use it?
I feel your pain.
Except mine is a big ass HDtv. 
I got it working…15 minutes before I leave for work. Suppose I should be happy it works and I’m not in your situation but damnit.
You’ll know when to use it.
When to use
Spoiler
You have to make it past the boss fight in Anor Londo (Ornstein and Smough). A little further into the area, the orb will start to vibrate. Use the orb and you will “invade” Lautrec’s world. There will be three enemies, but you only have to kill Lautrec (you can get drops from the others if you kill them first).
EDIT: Changed post #1423 to include a little more information on Lautrec.
^ What first post? =( I’m in the dungeon, killed the giant rat. Fuck yea!
edit: Nevermind, I killed him at Fireshrine already… doh!
I know this is pointless in the long run, but I rerolled as a pyro for better starter stats.
I’m still early in the game, but I’m enjoying burning my enemies up a lot more than shooting MAGIC MISSILE!!
Is everyone else’s damage really low? I have a weapon that does 80 slash and 90 magic, and my damage to pretty much every enemy outside of the undead burg (where I hit 80s-90s) is in the 20s per hit.
^ Get the Drake Sword. I kill everything up until and including the Depths enemies in a couple of hits.
If you wait until later to kill Laurtec do you still get his ring? Because I hear you don’t and it’s one of the best melee rings I’ve gotten so far. I killed him right away instead of later for the ring, it gives +health, +stamina(green bar) and equip endurance.
What should I do in the Depths? I got cursed down there, cured it and haven’t gone back. After I kill the boss and giant rat, do I just keep exploring down there and eventually go to Blight Town? Last boss I killed was the Capra Demon.
Yo, guys, for anyone that’s there, I already went into the Undead Burb Depths, and as such I have been all the way to both ends of that small canal. There’s a merchant at one end, btu I didn’t realize it was a merchant and attacked it. Is there ANY way to get stuff from him now or am I going to have to wait til a second run, also what kind of stuff did he sell?
In other news, I beat the Capra Demon, the Moonlight Butterfly, and Gaping Dragon last night. Going to go find the second bell now.
You can do a couple things. From the Depths you can fight the Gaping Dragon at the bottom, from there you can go to a secondary entrance to Blighttown, but there’s something else you can do first as well. If you go down to the Blacksmith in the Undead Parish, keep going down and fight/run past that gargoyle tossing lightning at you. This leads you to a new area. It has a boss at the end, but it does end up in a dead end. You get a key for it however, but I’m not sure where to use it yet.
Alright, so I’m confused.
So right before you fight the Gargoyles, if you continue to search that small large church there is a prison cell at the top. There was someone in there and I released him, as he was talking to me I was being summoned to someone’s game. And when I returned to my world, that dude I released was gone. Who was that dude, and what was he going to say?
I saw that dude in someone elses game, but in mine he was never there.