http://www.anarchy-online.com/ Try it... It is free for first 7 days... I have played nearly all the MMORPGs and right now this is the best one... Been playing it for going on 3 years now...
SWG is terrible (I played for 4 months) The only reason I see that it is popular is because it is "Star Wars"...
EQ is a camp fest...
AC1 is full of exploiters now and AC2 is pretty much bottomed out now...
FFXI - I have not played but I have heard nothing good about it... It appaerntly (what I hear) has a terrible interface as well as it is very difficult to play because most of the player base is Asian and if you do not speak Japanese/Korean you will have a very hard time...
I would seriously consider giving AO a shot...It had a terrible launch but has improved steadly since and now is the best MMORPG out there...Steep learning curve but not too bad and you can progress at your own pace... It is a free download and free for 7 days to try...As well there are alot of new players entering the game...In fact it is flooded with "newbies"...