A story focused mmo that actually delivers.
I have gotten so tired of MMO's. I've played mmo's since UO(which I loved, nothing like it) and EQ . Everything from Asherons call to WoW, to SWG, SWTOR, Warhammer, Tera, etc.
Most of them play the same basic formula that EQ started with. The Trinity focused lv based mmo "carrot on a stick" routine, chasing uber gear to kill bigger things to get better uber gear, rinse and repeat.
Even SW:TOR, which was touted as a story-focused mmo did this.
TSW on the other hand, while it DOES have your generic mmo style "go kill x " quests it does a LOT of things better/different and makes for one of the most enjoyable mmo's I've played in a long time.
If you love adventure games (IE Syberia, The Longest Journey, Gabriel Knight , etc) you will find this the most appealing mmo to date. It has a lot in common with adventure games. Some great detective style missions and puzzles to solve that reward you for thinking and not simply giving you a waypoint to "x."
Also the Storylines, characters, and writing are pretty decent. It's in a big part thanks to Ragnar (who wrote both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall). I have never before found myself in an MMO really "caring" about the story or playing the game because of the story and wanting to "find out" what happens. In many mmo's the storyline is an afterthought, just window dressing for generic quests.
However in TSW the story is front and center. Characters are fully voiced (with some great VO, even some GREAT cameo's by horror actors like Jeffrey Combs (Re-animator). There are a LOT of well done "horror" nods, everything from some Lovecraft style inspired monsters to tongue in cheek horror nods like street names (Elm street) and playful jabs from voice actors.
The atmosphere of the game is top notch, easily sets itself apart from any other mmo out there with it's modern setting and horror theme.
The combat is however as said, the low point. However if you've EVEE played an mmo it's pretty much the same. I don't get why GS knocks it down for combat yet doesn't for WoW and other mmo's.
The thing that helps TSW in regards to character building is the skill/ability wheel. You can Sp/AP at the same rate throughout the game (This is why rerolling doesn't really have a point, as there's no cap to it either). You are encouraged to experiment to find what skills/abilites you like/want. Infact you will definitely want at least TWO weapon skill sets (the way combat works if you are only using one weapon you are missing out on a LOT of dmg that comes with having two weapons equipped). Since it's not lv based and you gain sp/ap at the smae rate the way they balance it is simply by having higher tier skills cost more sp/ap.
overall I'm having the most fun with this mmo out of any mmo since the early mmo days when they were new. Yes Combat is lackluster (Tera set the bar high but failed at everything else) but everything else is great.
Bug wise I do not get why people aren't commenting about launch. Yes there are some bugs, but most, if not all, can be resolved with a simple instance switch (just ask someone to invite to group to switch instances to theirs) or a gm petition. Apart from these the launch of TSW has been remarkably smooth. No huge lag problems, no big server down time, etc. Far more smooth then AoC or even WoW's launch