In Tera there is a big global alert when someone on the server enchants an item to +6. With several people accomplishing this feat each minute the alerts get annoying fast.
Is there a way to turn off the enchantment alerts?
Unfortunately currently there is no way to disable this announcements. (I assumed you're asking about EU or NA version of the game)
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In Tera, you can gather different materials. On the US Tera, gathering falls under 3 categories : energy, plants, and mining. Each has their own stat, and successfully gathering the respective material raises that stat.
What's the maximum stats for energy, plants, and mining - how high can I go?
Besides obviously gathering materials easier, are there any other advantages to higher gathering stats?
The literal answer to your question is 250, but I think what you want to know is how much you should raise it at a given time (or at least, that's what I would want to know if I asked a question like this).
For gathering professions there are 5 tiers (Tera seems obsessed with tiers):
The idea being that as you progress in gathering professions you'll be able to acquire higher tier nodes. If you aren't keeping your gathering up with your leveling you'll start failing a lot.
Each tier corresponds to about 50 skill points, so you'll want to make sure you're hitting that rate of improvement as you move through the zones, otherwise it'll become more difficult.
Having a high gathering skill doesn't provide stats on it's own, but successful gathering does provide benefits (such as increased stamina up to 135). These temporary (usually 10-20min) buffs make leveling significantly easier. However, if you haven't kept up on your gathering skills you'll find higher tier nodes hard to mine (multiple failures and even destroying the nodes), so you lose out on said buffs. Thus, while having a high skill doesn't directly denote a buff, it indirectly allows you to receive buffs.
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What are the mechanics behind Tera (by EnMasse)? I know that the maximum party size is 5.
Does being in a party net more experience than being solo? More or less drops? Does the exp rate per individual change with the size of the party-and is there an optimum sized party for the optimal amount of experience? Etc.
What are the [party] mechanics behind Tera?
You can read a quick synopsis on the official site by reading the game guide entry for groups. However, to offer a complete answer, I'll address each of your points below.
Does being in a party net more experience than being solo?
If you're asking if mobs are worth more experience, then the answer is 'yes'. Being in a party nets the group 20% more experience after the original XP is split.
For a mob that is worth 100 XP:
[Does the party receive] more or less [loot] drops?
The drops are the same. However, you get better quest rewards from quests that typically require a group than you would from quests designed to be soloable.
Does the exp rate per individual change with the size of the party?
Yes. It will vary depending on both the number of people in the party and the levels of people in the party. If you are all the same level, you will all get the same amount of experience. Higher-level people will get a larger share of the experience.
Is there an optimum sized party for the optimal amount of experience?
What you really want to figure out is the experience you can gain per hour when you are solo vs. when you are in various groups with various people. Even though it's true that a mob is worth more experience if you group up, your character will get less experience than you would have if you had killed it by yourself. However, it will also die faster since it's taking damage more quickly. The idea is to see whether your play style means you earn more experience per hour faster by yourself or with others helping you.
All things being equal, you should end up leveling faster in a group.
Additional note: Quests are still worth the same amount of experience regardless of whether or not you are in a party. More people in your party usually means you can complete more quests per hour. This will boost your XP per hour substantially.
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