I never said they were bad coders, just that the codebase is a mess... If it's broken "AoC", then surely it needs fixing before you try and build something else with it... Funcom don't seem to be doing that, there is far too much pressure on features.
Edit: I just want to be clear in that, an MMO needs maintaining, and if the codebase is hard to maintain the problem will most likely get worse.
I don't see anyone changing the formula, as anything too different from WoW will be seen as too risky.
I've often had a similar opinion, waiting for that truly different MMO experience... I'd certainly give anything a shot. I just don't think I will believe it until I experience it.