FYI, Horizons is in beta testing and is coming out in fall. It is also one of the most highly anticipated games this year. Note that there are other games in the next generation that are doing the same; Ryzom, EQ2 (the game they wanted to make in the first place), Dragon Empires, and the list goes on with each day. Games are steering away from monotonous ever-camping and trying to make a more integrated, interactive game.
I find your labelling of roleplayers becoming more and more offensive as you go on, so this will be my last post.
I repeat: if you don\'t like roleplay, find another game.
I repeat: not all \"roleplayers\" are 14 year olds looking for cyber. I\'m an expectant mother with a husband working for IBM. We are therefore not all losers without lives who are unsuccessful in the real world, as you seem to keep implying - and the people I roleplay with for the most part are also very active in society, having jobs, children, homes, etc. We don\'t say \"dude\", we don\'t just get drunk and cruise for chicks. It\'s a hell of a lot more thought out than that. In real life, I do not go around wearing a sword and a cape and I wouldn\'t commit suicide if my character died. Merely because I enjoy taking on a role, like an actress, doesn\'t mean I am in some way mentally imbalanced. Are there people who take it too seriously? Yes, but a few bad examples doesn\'t mean a majority.
I repeat: not only this thread, but various roleplaying threads throughout this site will show you that the majority of people waiting for this game are roleplayers and though there have been people who came along saying that rp was \"stupid\" the resounding reply has ALWAYS been \"then why play an rpg?\"
Slinging out pseudo-statistical factiods won\'t back your case. It\'s very simple. This is what a rpg is. If you have only made acquaintance with people on the cruise for an online girlfriend, you haven\'t met a real roleplayer. Before you label the whole as a bunch of no-lifers, my suggestion is you meet a few - if you can manage not to offend them with blanket statements.
In conclusion: find another genre that isn\'t a rpg. There are MMOG\'s out there that don\'t have a trace of roleplay in them, and those would suit you better. Merely finding a different genre is much more expedient that coming in on a thread solely to be the voice of dissention. I certainly wouldn\'t go onto a forum for first-person-shooters and tell them they were morons for playing and enjoying a certain game-style. That\'s not a \"debate\", that\'s just inflammatory.