Show me a decent MMO

I love the idea of MMO games, but currently I'm not playing any of them. I've played Eve and Star Wars Galaxies in the past, and I really badly want to get totally obsessed with a new one. Currently, I pin my homes on Pirates of the Burning Sea (www.burningsea.com)
The trouble is, that's not out yet, and I want to play one NOW!

Things I hate in MMOs:
Level grind
People talking in l33t and generally wrecking the atmosphere
Really insular stuff that assumes you have played loads before (talking about buffs and instances etc)
People who are 100% obsessed on leveling up and getting points, but not actually enjoying the experience

Things I Like:
Non fantasy settings
ability to freeform explore, rather than just go from quest to quest
Immersive environment with cool NPC AI
Ability to get somewhere as a solo player, without a guild etc
lovely graphics (have l33t machine, no worries)


I tried Guild Wars and hated it (its a single player game linked by a graphical chat room basically) I tried LOTRO and hated that (seemed half finished, with people obsessing about level grinding), I've had enough of Eve and SWG.

Any ideas?