I'm a very new player still, so I haven't been anywhere but the newbie island yet, but I wanted to take a moment to reply to this post. To this line right here. I have in recent years seen this line and its equivalent stated by many players in many games. "I work all day I don't want to work in a game.."
It is the very fact that I see this rant that makes me interested in this game. I am tired of modern MMOs. I want to work for my achievements. I want my achievements to matter. I remember when leveling in a game actually meant something and had to be worked for - playing badly used to mean you might not level at all! And 2-5+ minutes to travel from one location to another was once a matter of course! I remember regional economies that sprung up thanks to long travel times, and I think the loss of those was a real blow to immersion and interest/fun level. Bone chips, anyone? (As an aside, I really can't wait to get off this newbie island *shakes fist at feet dragging husband* to go dumpster diving in vendor stashes again..)
I haven't experienced these zones so can't speak to the actual experience of them yet. But now I am even more excited to go and see them. There are plenty of games that cater to instant gratification and everyone gets all the shinies as a matter of course mentalities. I'm interested in games that don't hand everything to me, and there are precious few of those.
This post would have been far more helpful if you had taken the time to do more than just complain. If it's not fun, what changes might make it more fun? What is fun? Most of what you are complaining about here sounds like a blast to me.