Realistic doesnt have to be brown and boring - look at LOTRO. UO as well, if you dont count most of these crazy neon colors obtained using game bugs. I liked the overall theme of AoC but it was just released far too early without nearly enough content to reliably level to the cap.
You can't get away with a grind like EQ did, if you're going to make an MMO these days, you better have quests/missions that at least disguise it.
Of course the poster is hardly neutral here, just look at the digs towards WoW's theme, and while some people still do play AoC, this guy is like many, one of the ones who unsubscribed