So while i am downloading tell what can i expect, if you guys have any useful tips for a beginner that would be welcome too.

My random piece of advise is just to save fairly often and make sure you use more then a single save slot. I think Arx Fatalis is a great game but it definatly has its bugs.

thanks i'll keep that in mind, i already knew that the game has some issues with bugs tough i decided to get it anyway since i have been hearing that the game is pretty good, hopefully i won't run in into many bugs.

I've only found a couple so far but I'm not that far in, getting stuck in a wall seemed to be the worst one so far. Also the magic system in this game is unlike any other game I've played so if you were thinking of going for a mage style character you may want to get the part they give you your magic abilitys and try the system out, its not that far in.
Then other than the horrible voice acting I'm really enjoying this game.

Try not to save much in the human levels. (The City of Arx, Arx castle and the Outpost.) Those seem to be the only areas with savegame problems. In the beginning of the game avoiding saving in those areas will prove troublesome, but it gets easier later on. You should use the end of the goblin tunnels to save before entering the Outpost area.

If you have difficulty using magic, try to find a relatively safe spot to practice drawing runes until you get a feel for how they work. You can also store up to 3 pre-cast spells to be used instantaneously using (if I recall correctly) the Shift key while casting the spell of your choice.

I played an almost pure spellcaster and I can say that you should practice drawing the runes until you can do them fast, spontaneously and almost without a margin of error. Casting spells that are not stored as pre-cast in the middle of a battle will be an important skill for a mage. If you will play a spellcaster, you will need this skill. As the game processes you should learn to cast most spells from memory, and most importantly, fast. When you get in a tough situation and are about to get slaughtered and have no pre-cast healing spells, your skill to cast heal spell fast and without error will save your life. Remember the runes (so you don't accidentally cast a dud or a drain life instead of a healing spell.) and learn to cast them fast.
Learning to cast spells from memory should be quite easy once you understand the meaning of each rune (fireball = create+fire+projectile)

Learn the secret spells -- they kick ass. Pain is especially useful. Remember also you can cast certain spells consecutively for more damage (10x = 10x more damage).
And yeah, what sumppi said about saving -- I gave up on the game cause I didn't follow his advice. It's a pain to do it but maybe okay enough I'll get back into it...

Aim low.

So i have been playing a lot today, my initial impressions is that the game has a pretty nice atmosphere, everything is bleak which i find very interesting. The first parts of the game were rather hard, i died a lot when the little globins called for backup and got my ass beaten by the little globin's big brother. I did not enjoy when i got robbed of a non lethal option when i had to pass a certain gate guarded by 3 big and very hard globins, there was a certificate i had to get signed in order to get trough a gate the problem is that when i was escaping the globin prison i made a choice of killing everyone i saw including the very person from which i needed the signature. Also getting killed by a guard just because you were hanging in the second floor of the king's hall is not fun, it's dumb.
Moving on i am kinda dissapointed i haven't come across any other spells besides the boring "light torches with fire", i basically poured all of my stat points in magic related skills hoping that i would be casting fireballs and crap in no time, maybe i haven't searched hard enough.
Right now i am looking for a troll idol that i need so that the trolls can clear a passage to the outpost that got destroyed, no luck so far.

You get spells relatively quickly, I find. Won't be long now. When you get to the city you can buy a bunch of runes. The ones you must find can be hard to get, yeah -- the game makes you work for them but I like that.
If I remember correctly the troll idol is in the room with the one treasure chest in the goblin lair. Once you get permission to go in there it's yours..

Arx will give you the freedom to go axe crazy and murder quest-related NPCs. You can still complete the game, even if you slaughter everyone, but it will be much harder.
The guard does warn you that the upper level is private property. You should probably listen...
You didn't search hard enough ;) The fireball and incinerate spells are available very early on.

Hmm, you should have been able to get fireball by then. Actually you could have been spamming magic missiles even before you exit Goblin tunnels for the first time. You have to look harder for the runes. Most are hidden.
As for the idol, there are many ways to solve the puzzle. You can use force if that's what you want. Also, diarrhea is the key...

That was a tough one to figure out for me. I was pleased when I did though.
All this Arx talk is making me wanna play it...

Played some more today, finally got that damn idol. Like sumppi said diarrhea was the key...along with exploring everything and talking to everyone, this game certainly reminds of adventure games in some places. found some runes (thanks to gamefaqs) which finally gave me the ability to throw magic missiles around, pretty cool. according to the manual this game has a bunch of spells which is awesome however i hope i don't miss many runes along the way.
Finally i hate that damn musician that plays in the king's hall, don't ask me why i just do. i hate him so much i killed him using a fireball spell, it seems everyone hated him too because no gave me any grief about it :D
@zamfear: yeah he did warn me but i didn't expect to be murdered for my trespassing, couldn't he had kick my ass or do something else that is non-lethal :/