From what AE has said, a standard sword would take about a months-worth of extensive use to require maintainance. Poisons will come from plants or small animals and can be applied to almost any weapon. Some poisons will be deadlier than other of course, and there will be antidotes and spells to counter many of them. Houses can be built by NPCs and there will be a large variety to chose from. Land will be purchased from the government, and buildings can only be built in certain areas else your house will be torn down.
Players can also build a house or building outside of town.
Quests Quests will be generated dynamically to the point where two people will never have the same quest. Magic System Artifact Entertainment is very tight lipped about their magic system at the moment, but they are promising it will be unique and complex. There will be extensive research and questing involved in learning new spells. Teleportation spells will be available to powerful magic users as well.