Its the next logical step, and its not bad to boot.
Warhammer Online is the next logical step. Some of the problems from WoW is that unless you have been somewhere, you cant fly there. This is fixed by each Tier being locked from flight until you reach a specific level. The downside of this is that you lose that exploratory feel of going from one area to another. The upside is there are no flight paths. No spending your hard earned in game money flying from one area to another that requires 2 bathroom breaks and an in flight movie. Just zones of quests and repeatable quests.
Speaking of quests, the Public quest is a bit of a misnomer but its effective in what its ment to do. In other MMO's, some quests that you got couldnt be done outside of a full party or even a full raid. Public quests replace the party quests, and they are repeatable for fixed loot bags. Plus each chapter has an influence bar that when you fill up you get some better loot.
What keeps this game from being better than an 8.5 is the fact that its not quite finished yet. You would think that as barebones as the crafting system is, with only 2 major professions and 4 minor professions supporting those major professions, that it would be completely fleshed out. Sadly only one of the professions is fleshed out, the other is more Leprosy than funcitonal. The public quests gives no drops for it. The random mobs of monsters give no drops for it. Its a huge money sink to get the level even remotely right.
Where the game does shine is in the Player Vs Player and Realm Vs Realm combat. There is enough balance in PC's so that no class really feels restrictive outside its main ethos. Obviously an archer class isnt going to cast spells, but it can DPS with the best of the tanks and casters. Most casters are a mix of DPS and heal, so you can do which ever one you want to.
The game also shines in the guild system. In WoW, if you arn't in the right guild and/or don't play at the right time, so much of the game is locked out from you its almost like you are playing only half a game. And the odd dychotomy of the game is that being in a guild is important, but it wont keep you from experiencing the game. Through out the world are keeps that can only be taken by guilds. Once a guild has taken the keep, they are usable by all, but its still up to the guilds to take them. This lets the power gamers be power gamers, the casual gamers be casual gamers, and everyone gets to play the game.