People comparing WoW at its prime with SWTOR, instead of comparing the ****fest WoW at launch was, with SWTOR.
SWTOR is, at worst, equal in quality to WoW pre-eye of the storm patch. Or whatever the last patch before BC was, that gave the 41 point talents.
Also, WoW is right now pretty much dying, so SWTOR doesnt NEED to compete with it so much as last until its polished.
Also, to respond a bit to OP:
There is target of target. You can skip the quests, also grinding pvp or other things is as rewarding with experience as quests, so you can easily switch off. WoW didn't start with addons too, no MMO did, this will have addons in a few months. The responsiveness is almost as good as WoW, better than most MMOs, WoW was horribly unresponsive at the start.
I can add more, but you get the picture.