Quote Originally Posted by Hitori View Post
There is virtually no challenge outside of savage raids.
MMORPGs are not meant to be particularly challenging. They are meant to be Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games; social sandboxes to roleplay and make friends in.

They do happen to have challenging content in the form of extreme, savage and ultimate, for those who want challenge. Not everyone does.

Quote Originally Posted by Hitori View Post
There is little community aspect since everything is instanced
There is plenty of community, so perhaps you didn't notice it. Take a trip to a major city and chat in /shout. Join the novice network. Start hunting and make friends with all of the hunters in the open world. Join linkshells and free companies. Participate in roleplaying events. Join discords. Join party finders for casual content and make friends with the people you meet. Attend a fanfest. Post on these very forums.