what makes aoc unique to me is the mature content and gameplay lines as well as the "realistic" look of the world and graphics... branding something as unique and special because "we wait for 2 hours to run warmonks!!" is pathetic.
in relation to development the best thing funcom could do is sell the franchise to a developer with money, eg blizzard, or do what star citizen is doing and have a design plan that is implemented and paid for by donations and the subscribers themselves.
this games is stagnating, and releasing new content eg unchaining old content, dosent hit the mark as they are attempting to cater to existing geared vets in difficulty, yet new players ( which is what this game desperately needs) dont stand a chance at running it in **** gear with no aa's.
and expecting any new player to roll 1 toon, play it 12hours a day and try and get a few aa's to max to be able to play competitively 6 months from now.... not gonna happen.