I know what you mean. I wasn’t keen on paying a monthly fee either. But, I got to try the game as a betatester and I really got into it. I couldn’t stop playing. A couple of months after WoW was released I decided to buy the game because some of my friends were playing it. They started a guild for real life friends only and it is so cool to play with them 😛 The monthly fee is just 13 euro’s and you really don’t miss that kind of money.
Try it! 😛 You’ll love it!