I'm a bit of a fanboi, so take this with a pinch of salt, but:
release is a marked improvement in gameplay & stability over the final beta, which was again an improvement over the origional 1.05 beta we got hold of.
It has it'suissuses still. the god-awful friend / chat system being the main one. Couple that with not being able to itemlink, and you are possibly going to get fustrated if you are used to a better chat system, and lets face it, even Eve's is better than this. Wow is so far ahead it's painfull.
However, the game is an absolute blast. belign around last night with StGeorge, and Corwin the other week, is some of the most fun i've had in a game for ages, so buy it. bitches
See private thread for ts details, it's alot easier than chatting with the fidly console.