The only good MMORPGs I have played were FFXI and Runescape. Both went to hell when they tried to copy the standard formula. I'm currently playing A Realm Reborn solely for the fact that it's Final Fantasy, but overall it's pretty terrible.

TOR was awesome until they made it FTP. They have all that you are asking for but it came way too late and took way too long to develop which killed all hype. It came out exactly when people were tired of WoW (the worst time possible)

absolutely hate that genre

ARR is pretty fantastic despite Wagram's grumbling. And I lol heartily at you thinking either of them are trying to emulate anything about WoW outside of its success.

The really good ones to play (imo) are SWTOR and the original Guild Wars (fun and aproachable, no fee required, though in SWTOR it doesnt hurt). They are games that are a joy to play all the time (in terms of combat system).
I never got all the hate for SWTOR. Its a fun game, but now lacks content cause EA caved in and fired half the team 6 months after release.

FFXIV: ARR is quite good aswell, but i feel the community is very hostile (and lets be honest, its quite grindy aswell). What matters is that the support for the game by the developer/publisher is there and that is why the game is a sucess. Something that EA cant understand with SWTOR. You as a publisher/developer have to prove to your fans you are commited about your game for the long term. Its not the consumers that have to blindly give you money until you decide to unveil new things.

MMO's arent the type of game you sell once and you're done with it. They are labors of love and commitment and presently only Blizzard and Square understand that and its why their games are the two most sucessful at the moment (For example both have multiple expansions already garanteed).
With that said, WoW has lost alot of the spark it once had. They should have announced WoW2 a long time ago. The graphics of the game are just too simple, as are the animations. Its a game from almost 2 generations ago. It needs renewal desperatly.

As for TESO, its an appauling game. It does not do anything especially well and actually its much lower in quality than its single player counterpart (for example houses are mostly empty while in Skyrim and others they are full of life and objects). Wildstar is making one mistake i think they wanted it to be their strength but just tires me out when i look at the game: It looks just like WoW. I dont even feel like giving it a chance, even though the combat system reminds me of Guild Wars and TERA.

TERA is another honorable mention: Great combat system but dumb korean grindy design holds it back. Real shame. If you want to experience something new in an MMO, that is the way to go though.

Nem, what makes you think FF14's is too hostile? I think they should be way more hostile. There are so many bad players who have no idea what they're doing and don't even bother to ask others for help. I can't tell you how many times primals fights have started while I was casting Protect. -_-

That said, TERA is also an excellent pick. Best gameplay of any MMO I've ever tried. An absolute delight to play.

I tried playing MMORPGs once... I played WoW, got to level 7, my friend gave me 3000 gold, then I never played it again and now my account is banned and I couldn't careless... There is just something about MMO's that just bores me to death

Imo TERAs PvE or combat in general is so much fun, I wish more MMOs used it

FF14 has a very lengthy story campaign and what's great about it is that you're not just some random character in it. You have a role and you're important just like in most normal rpgs. Isn't that what you're looking for?

The role isn't limited to you so you're not important at all (inherent problem with MMORPGs), and it also proves that through it's awful quests.