As you drive up to a truck stop, or drive into a town (the bigger ones are where you actually get out of the car and walk around) you'll see a "god light" on some of the NPCs. That'll tell you they have something for you - either a new mission to do, in exchange for clink (money) or gear, or that you turn in a mission to them that you've completed. Once you get a mission, it will usually give you a waypoint as to where to drive to, or what to kill. You drive around, doing missions, and unlike most MMORPGs you'll find that you're levelling as fast as you can get missions!

On a typical night I'd level at least once, at least through the lower level 20s (you can get up to level 80). Each level brings you skill points to use on special abilities, such as lightning blasts or armor hardening, as well as points to raise your attributes such as combat, tech, or perception. Some levels will also give you crafting points to raise your reverse engineering, tinkering, memorization, or experimentation scores.