I have been trying to get excited about this game. It has all of the makings of the next great MMO. But the OP reminds me that this is LOTRO all over again. So many non-gamer, lore-loving fanbois. I threw up in my mouth the second time he/she menti…
In the past few months I have retried EQ (progression), DAoC, and Shadowbane. All of them have been great experiences, and I am still playing EQ and SB.
Of those, SB is F2P and certainly qualifies for a less than perfect release.
Unfortunately I haven't played any of these games, so I cannot offer any advice. I just wanted to say, this is an excellent post by the OP and by GameL. More posts in this spirit would do this board some good.