Different but not necessarily better
I admit that Turbine should be commended for tossing out the conventional MMOG mold and working from scratch. They really did a bang up job of removing virtually every known convention of MMOGs. The problem is two-fold.
One, the concepts they came up with aren't really entertaining. To replace the leveling system and bridge the gap between 1st and 2nd level, you earn Enhancements, which are different minor boosts to your abilities. The problem is, these still feel like levels in the conventional sense, just without the payoff of adding new spells and skills.
The other problem is that they managed to tear out grinding and put it back in at the same time. In the conventional sense, you grind by killing the same monster over and over again to get equipment, money or XP. But the game turns SOLELY on questing, as you earn XP after a quest is finished. As GS said, "You've gone from repeatedly killing the same monster, to repeatedly doing the same quest. " And unlike normal grinding, the quests lower their rewards the more you do them.
The graphics are nice, but they seem a little unfinished and dated. The sounds, apart from the Gamemaster's voice is easily replaced by a good MP3 song. The Gamemater's voice is definetly a big step in the right direction, as what could be boring dungeons and pathways, can be better defined by his descriptive text and voiceovers.
In the end, DDO does succeed in bringing that pen and paper, friends around a table feel of D&D to the computer. You will feel like that first level mage warrior or cleric.But no one wants to be stuck at 1st level for days or weeks on end. And that is what the game feels like right now. It pushes your weaknesses far more than your strengths. Coupled with a repetitive game, somewhat lanky graphics, and a general disconneciton from the genre it's trying to succeed in, and you have a true longshot in a genre that's already got tough competition going on.