I never liked turn-based combat and I still think Atlantica is a blast.
To add to your post:
1) I agree the lore is more interesting than your standard MMO fare. They basically took a lot of the most interesting parts of our human history and conglomerated it into a fantasy setting.
2) The soundtrack is pretty bad, but who listens to game soundtracks after the first week to month anyway.
3) I'm only level 60 but the game is not terribly challenging...been cutting through monsters like a hot knife through butter
4) the "Free League" PVP is really really fun.
