If you're like me and didn't want to get into this game on a server with a bunch of pimped out maxxed out characters...they finally opened a new server if you want to get in on that.

Trying it out now, seems decent so far anyway

I've been playing the game for a bit now (played some in open beta, and been playing since release date).   I'll throw some stuff out there for people that haven't tried.

First off, the game gives a weird vibe that's a combination of pre expansion EQ and Ultima Online which I really like so far.   You aren't really directed to do much in particular (though you do have the guildleves) but you can do a lot anyway.   It's actually pretty sandboxish.  

If you like crafting, you'll probably like this game.   EVERYTHING is crafted.   Levequests occasionally will give you a wearable item, but not very often.   There's a lot of equipment slots to fill too.    Besides all the usual body slots you've got 4 ring slots, 2 bracelets, a neck, two earrings etc.    It's quite possible to make a living without doing any fighting.     If you do kill stuff though, all the drops from mobs are also for crafting.   I haven't seen any "trash" drops, they can all be used by a crafter of some sort.

What's pretty neat I think is the way physical exp is set up.    You raise exp in the class you're currently playing by doing stuff with that class, but you're also getting physical exp (more of a general character level) from doing things successfully as any class.   These give you extra stats which are useful regardless of what class you're currently playing.   Thus if you spend days just mining and blacksmithing or something, if you then get bored and want to do some fighting...well you're actually going to be fighting a little better because you probably leveled your physical level a few times while doing the crafting and gathering.

I'm not a fan of the retainer system as it is.  I don't mind not having an auction house, but there needs to be some sort of happy medium to at least browse through all the player shops easier.    If upon entering the market ward you got a big list of all the shops in the area immediately so you could sift through them easier, that would probably be good enough for me.     I expect this to be changed before too long in some way so I'm not too terribly worried about it.    Nonetheless a lot of people still do sift through all the retainers, I've not had any problem selling the things I've made so far.

Speaking of selling things, to counter the retainer system.    One thing that is GREAT is the ability to be your own shopkeeper.   I don't really hear anyone mentioning this and I didn't even start fiddling with it until a few days ago.   You can take items from your inventory and put them up for sale on your own character, up to 10 slots.    You don't have to stand around in "shop mode" to do this though, which is fantastic.   You'll get a little icon next to your name so people can tell that you are offering things for sale.   They can click on you and sift through whatever you're offering while you're doing other activities.     I've frequently been doing crafting in the camps and putting things on my "player shop" as I make them.   It hasn't been uncommon for me to be crafting some items and have someone buy existing things from my shop while I was in the middle of making more.  

The UI is pretty awkward, make no mistake about it and don't let anyone tell you different.   That being said, you tend to get used to it after a while and it's not quite as bad as it first seems.     However, some of the pauses in the process make sifting through things to craft take longer than they really should.   You make a choice, then 3 seconds go by before the next option comes up.     It's not a dealbreaker, but you won't like it, just the same.    The actual utilization of the UI isn't really a big deal after you play for a bit, the UI lag is annoying though.    This is another thing I expect to be slowly optimized as things going on.   They've made some improvements but there's a ways to go. 

Of course, being able to be any class is very cool.   Change your held item and you're a new class.   If you don't mind making trips to your retainer to bank your inventory some (80 inventory slots on your character, believe me they fill up fast) you could probably do everything.     My character is a pugilist/thaumaturgist/conjurer/carpenter/weaver/goldsmith/miner/botanist so far  =P.    The crafting classes have some skills that will be useful to other crafting classes, abilities to reduce failures, increase durability etc.    Thus if you leveled up blacksmith alot and switch to carpentry or something, there are skills from blacksmith to make your carpentry life easier too.     Of course it is most useful for the combat classes.   Being a warrior able to put up damage shields, heal, stun etc via abilities from the other classes is obviously good.      Having looked through the abilities for all the disciples of war and magic, I can say that every one of them has at least a few things that any other combat class can put to use in a meaningful way.  

The community so far (as of 2 days before the "official" release) is pretty damn good.    I think overall the type of person willing to be patient and put in the time necessary to figure out what's going on in this game is likely to be a bit more mature, which is good.    There's no world chat.    You can /shout and people a bit further away can hear you, but it's still pretty local.     Personally I miss the banter of world chat sometimes...but not much.   In my opinion the game is definitely better without it.  

I'll probably add more to this overly long post as I think of other stuff to mention.   Hopefully it was at least somewhat informative.

I liked playing wow...for a while.    The main thing I have to say that's anti wow is once you reach the level cap (which happens relatively fast).    You reach level 80, and you've got some rep to grind, but honestly within a week or two you've got all your rep.   What you're left with is raiding ICC.   With the WoW lockout system you're left with just raiding ICC for a few hours...then waiting until the following tuesday to do it again.   Depending on your guild setup you may have a 10 man and 25 man raid to do again, but it's the same deal.

I REALLY LIKE the wow gameplay!   But the unfortunate thing is that you're restricted in how often you can enjoy it!   You do your 10 man icecrown citadel run (which is honestly fun!)...on x day (tuesday reset), you do your 25 man icecrown citadel run (which still, is fun!)   on x day....and then you've got your continuations for both.   But honestly, what ends up happening is that you just wait for the next night to meet with your raid buddies to continue your raid at level 80, with nothing else to do otherwise.

So you, as a wow player, think "okay, It'll be fun when it's 7 pm server time!"   ...then "Okay it'll be fun when it's 7 pm server time on wednesday!"  and so on.

The raiding truly is fun.   There just isn't enough of it because of the weekly lockout system.    You end up having fun for a couple days, then waiting 3-5 days before you can honestly play again.     The ugliest part is if you feel frustration with your raid partners.   I won't get into that, but as an avid mmorpg player since the UO/Mud days, I will say that it's VERY easy to get frustrated with your guild/raid buddies...mostly because there is seriously nothing else to do!

Overall.   I would say WoW really is an excellently made game, but a poorly made game when it comes to longevity.   I enjoyed WoTLK....for a few months.   I really don't have interest in the upcoming cataclysm expansion, and I hope I covered the reasons why I'm not looking forward to it.  

On Feb 23rd or so, they opened a new server, "Unicorn" which is pve only, 50% exp rate, and 300% drop rate.

Just pointing this out for any that didn't know (I left the game for years, just happened to stumble upon the fact they opened this server recently so checking it out)

IF THERE WAS NO WORLD OF WARCRAFT...

um...mmos wouldn't be quite as popular, that's about it?

No, the characters will still be deleted at the end of this...before the "real" open beta.

I don't feel like I'm "wasting time" in this closed beta, simply because the character advancement is so much more complex than most games and I need to experiment and fail a few times.

There's a LOT of build options, and with the way stats are set up (and getting to place stats on levelup too), it'll really take some tweaking to find any sort of optimal stat/talent/ruby build.   In fact the ruby system alone is more complex than most other mmorpg's entire customization scheme, but in Allods that's just one of the facets of your build.

I am likewise impressed with the quality of the game.   As soon as you login for the first time, you feel like you're playing an AAA title.  

Some game types are better suited to the limited lobby based multiplayer style (ala Diablo).  This is probably one of them.

Not that it couldn't be done, but I think it'd be hard having long term subs for such a game.

I liked Ultima Online's setup, I wasn't a pker either.

Full Loot, but the stuff you lost was pretty easy to replace (Buying a new set of gear and some regs wasn't exactly a big deal).   Still sucked dying, but it did make things more exciting...and if you did lose your stuff, it wasn't some miserable setback that made you want to quit or anything.

Also after you invested some time and gained power, you could often fight back and kill someone at least in a 1 on 1 situation.   It wasn't like some other games where "whoever gets the first attack wins".   Then you get their stuff. =P

Now if it was a heavily gear based game like WoW  with full loot, yeah it'd be lame and I wouldn't want to play it.

As long as there are enough to account for long term game stability, and enough people to interact with that I'm not waiting for others too much...that's good enough for me.