I've been playing since beta too but my purchased copy didn't arrive by live date. All of my friends have been on since day one (Excalibur) and now they're leaps and bounds ahead.

Have been trying, as much as I can, to try to hit the creation on the server but always no luck. Not feeling like the extra seven days they're giving us or time spent trying to get to the same spot as friends are worth it right now.

/sigh