Noob Falling Off the Bandwagon

I made knee jerk purchase and went with the hype for the decision before finding what AoC was.   First, the requirements are OMG crazy for an MMO and it's pretty unplayable on a min req. machine, even after turning the graphics all the way down.  That's ok I have a higher end laptop that worked fine.  I find the storyline very immersive, the graphics good, and the class choices had a good amount of variety. 

This is what I don't like about AoC and this is just my opinion I'm sure there are redeeming qualities of the game that many people continue to play on, maybe it's just not for me.   Keep in mind I've only played a couple days too, so I can definitely be missing things that's why for the post.

1. It feels like a single player game.  I know there is a max of something like 50 per region but the places I've been not many are socializing or even talking.  Even games that aren't truly MMO like Guild Wars have cities that people can congregate in one spot.  I haven't see that yet in AoC. 
2. The game feels dumbed down where you get talents instead of choosing talent tree or pool of skills.  I like making different hybrid builds of characters. 
3.  Items, weapons, armor seem pretty generic as in looks.  To me there's nothing like picking up some uber weapon but to have it look like Joe Noob's sword seems disheartening.  They are like badges of honor to me.

Please let me know if my insights are wrong but be helpful and tell me what I am missing.