If we're doing comparisons... trying to play FFXI well after it launched, on my own, was a horrible, horrible experience. Seemed I needed a group for most the content, but since I was new/didn't know where to look I was looked down upon for asking simple questions. I realize that's the fault of the community and not necessarily the game, but it left a really bad taste in my mouth, and I didn't play the game long.

This I am satisfied with as far as launch goes. There are some things I hope they improve upon, and at least one thing I consider game breaking and hope they'll fix (positional check every .3 seconds isn't acceptable). Other than that though, it has kept me entertained and interested more than many other MMO titles I've tried out in a long while. I'm willing to stick around and see what future patches hold.