Aion, Champions Online, Jumpgate Evolution, Fallen Earth are all going to be released soon. For some of us none of these look truly great. We turn our attention otherwhere. Even SW ToR is not appealing to me, not at all.

Here is a list of some of the most interesting upcoming MMO projects:

THE SECRET WORLD

Funcom's new game. The lore resembles Lovecraft / Cthulhu myths. Classless, little focus on instances, this could be interesting. Main player cities are London, New York and Seoul.

Main site (Dark Days Are Coming)  | forum (Dark Demons Cry Gaia) | alternative site | Funcom | Teaser trailer | wiki

COPERNICUS (codenamed project by Studio 38)

MacFarlane and Salvatore as Executive Art Director and Executive Creator of the worlds - how can this not be exciting? Seems like they want to break new ground!

Studio 38 (developer) | Copernicus mmo | Massively article (and video) 1 | Massively article 2 | Wiki

UNANNOUNCED mmo (Carbine Studios)

Not much is known. Fantasy. But this is worth keeping an eye out for. Seems like they want to rival WoW, create something new and fresh, not copied. And they focus on stories. Believe polishing the game is important.

Carbine Studios | 2 | Massively chat | MMO gamer conversation

For more upcoming mmos read this article on mmorgp.com - Top 10 Tightlipped MMO projects. Some of the key mmos are Warhammer 40K, CCP's World of Darkness and of course Blizzard's Unannounced MMO project.

Other honorable mentions are Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars II, Earthrise