Question About Mmo Ert

I am curious about how the MMO game is going to work in terms of exploring and encountering. Is it going to work as a kind of FPS with a plot (Isolated arenas, but with the outcome of the battle affecting a overarching plot) or is it going to be something more of a MMORPG with the ability to go off and wander in your vessel of choice?
Assuming that it is the former (the latter being just a bit too random) then how are fleets assembled (who is on-line and waiting to join a battle), how are first encounters handled and final how is the battle set up (ranges, objectives, etc).

Further questions:

Do capital ships have the massive gunnery range advantage over smaller vessels in ERT as they do IRL.

Are encounters going to start beyond that range (restricted to the horizon of course)?

If so what are destroyers and corvettes going to do while 11inch shells are raining down as they close to cannon range?

Do captains who suicide ram (or die in battle otherways) going to actually die (the player having to create a new captain)?

Would a battleship even feel a Corvette or Escort ramming it, or would the armour belt take the dent?