You're right about everything. How I remember the first days of WoW, no fetch quests in site. Even today while playing WoW I amaze myself at the lack of fetch quests. I happily collect 20 eggs or kill 14 monsters and love the fact it's not the same old quests.
Didn't seem much point reading the rest, so I'll leave with this comment. Real review places review the game weeks or months after launch. There's a reason for that. Oh and if you want the game to feel fresh at launch don't join in the beta's.
Now back to my bad *** SI