Ryandor.com

I was a staunch opponent to the original EverQuest because I am a fan of skill-based systems, and thought the idea of class-based was too limiting. Since then, I have come to the realization that Ultima Online is a very real anomaly and that if I don't like class-based systems, I really can't play much else. So I have dropped the issue.

The good:
Good graphics. Not the best, but very good all the same.
Few bugs. I have yet to encounter a single one.
More quests than you could ever hope to do (even if you disable combat experience, as I have).
An interesting crafting system that is, on average, better than most systems I have seen.
Friendly and mature community (at least on the RP-PVP server).
An interesting housing system (instanced) that gives you more control over decoration than The Sims 2. Right down to pixel-level positioning, and you can even hang paintings crooked if you like (or even upside down). Also, everybody gets a house – it's not reserved for the rich.
There is a “mentor” feature that essentially lowers a higher-level player to the level of someone they choose to mentor, allowing them to adventure together. This also increases the amount of experience earned by the newbie.
The PVP is good vs. evil vs. neutral, and you can make any character switch sides by doing a long series (read: 24 hours worth) of quests.

The bad:
Almost no hand-holding or feature explanation causes a person to think the game is very simple and like all the others at first. It's one of those games that grows on you as you learn about it.
A lot of people on the PVP servers “lock” their levels (disable combat experience) to maximize the number of something called “achievement points” which were designed to be earned after having maxed your level. People find it useful to earn as many as possible as quickly as possible in the competitive environment.
You will be ganked by hopelessly out-tweaked opponents on the PVP servers about every 10 minutes. But I don't mind that much.

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Blog: http://www.sydius.org
Web: http://www.sydius.net

My understanding is the game as changed substantially since it was released (and lost the "battle" with WOW). Most of what I have heard, is if it had been released this way at launch, it would have been a smashing success. Unfortunately many are in my position, where we started at launch, and went through the "forced grouping" to advance (no way to solo much after level 20), the constant crafting changes (and dependincies to the extreme), as well as poor thought out concepts (one had to stay logged on to vendor their items they wanted to sell to others). To overcome that experience, to try again, is hard to overcome.

Of course, the largest reason for me to stay with WoW is it supports my Mac beautifully! And I have finally gotten into high end raiding!.

But yea, I have heard it has become a rather nice game.