The chat gives some insight into this MMOFPS, which is scheduled to launch next year.

Members of the Firefall team just completed an IRC dev chat with fans, and it provides some interesting insight into the upcoming MMOFPS. The game is scheduled to launch in North America and Europe by the end of 2011, but you can already sign up for the beta simply by registering for the Firefall forums.

The chat covers a lot of ground, but many of the questions focused on combat and PvP. Executive Producer James Macauley had this to say about PvP:

"We're super pumped about Firefall PvP. We're making PvP very competitive in Firefall. We're specifically designing encounters to support cooperative team-based play for squads or armies to go head-to-head with others. A back bone to this experience will be the ranking system and army stats. Along with this, you'll be able to enroll in tournaments and leagues."

Macauley also mentions that while there will be an in-game marketplace, "you'll be able to play the entire game without spending a dime." For more details, check out the entire transcript. Also, be sure to watch the Firefall gameplay trailer that was just released.