A thoroughly developed Standard-MMORPG, following the footsteps of asheron's call, and Everquest..
I never was into Everquest and Asheron's Call, but i had alot of fun with DAOC. The Races, Classes and Abilities are pretty balanced.
You will be able to emerge quite easily into the world of Avalon...
And the graphics are suitable. Although you always move around to completely different looking place when being on the search for harder crits, corresponding to your level.. i found the visual design to be a little bit "cartoony".. But the world is still compelling. I guess it's a matter of taste.
I've never been into the whole PVP of DAOC as i'm generally not very interested in MMORPG-PvP. From what i have heard the classes seem to be balance, but if a lvl 37 for instance is fighting against 39 for instance (same class) he wont stand a chance. Which prooves the Standard-MMORPG-Style of this Game, as its more about Levels, Experience, and Equations rather than Skill or Technique.
Nevertheless the Overall impression of this game remains very solid. Although it has to be said that it is very standardish, and wont offer much Surprise to the more experienced MMORPG-ers. Even if it was the first game to introduce Siege-Gameplay.
Enjoy.