...and the verdict so far is pretty good IMO.
Overall, the new character models are very nice, and I think add a lot to the experience. The new areas are very extensive and from what I've seen rather nice. I'm most experienced with Midgard's new areas, though my Valkyrie is only 23; the Kobold Undercity in particular is rather nifty.
The new low-level stuff is quite decent. More tasks, instanced dungeons that adapt to your level, even for level 1s (in and outside of the Catacombs areas), and better rewards help a lot. Instances are great for leveling as they offer good xp bonuses.
The new classes are tough for me to assess. I love the Valkyrie; it's a chain-wearing melee class (spear or sword & board) with one spell line that has ranged DD, forward-arc cone AOE, and offensive proc spells (so far; dunno what comes later). I've tried (briefly) a very very low level Bainshee and Vampiir in Hibernia, but can't really get the feel for the Bainshee (PBAOE and cone AOE stuff, mostly), and the Vampiir is pretty odd (interesting, but odd) as well, with a dagger in one hand and weird spells in the other. No power pool, but has to suck power from enemies, very vampiric at least. Haven't even tried the Heretic in Albion.
Hibernial's Catacombs area is the Veil, and looks like Dante's Inferno (at least the initial areas). Albiion's looks like, well, Roman catacombs/aqueducts. Midgard's starts as the Burial Grounds, including an awesome and huge Viking ship, the Call of Valhalla, made of stone. Each area starts at level 1 so you can theoretically spend your entire career in the Catacombs area I guess, with the exception of RvR.
At least in the Midgard realm, and I suspect elsewhere, the catacombs connect to some dungeons in the "classic" world.
All in all it's shaping up to be a very good PvE expansion, lots of stuff for all levels, and a lot of stuff to do. If you don't like DAOC I doubt it'll change your mind, but if you are simply annoyed at the low-level game and the torpid speed of leveling this should help. It also looks really nifty I think.
