Well,I can forgive GGG since they're a small studio but as far as Hack n' Slashes go,it's awesome.
I saw the MMO Grinder review of TERA and his reactions of the Elin were hilarious. I remember when the game came out,the outrage of that race was enormous.
And as far as I know,Scarlet Blade is actually a good game(if you go pass the *ahem* appeal*. I talked to a friend of mine and,according to him,there is a great game hidden in there.

I don't think there's anything like that, or I'd be playing it.

Try out Asheron's Call, which is what I'd be playing right now, with the exception that it's got a very small community and year ago it officially "died", meaning the game doesn't get any monthly updates (it was one of the first games that had monthly developing content which actually was interesting and even offered the players a a chance to change what's gonna happen) and support is very slow. But other than that, and the low player count, it's a really great game and might be what you're looking for!

Also Ultima Online might be right up your alley, but once again it's got a very small player base.

I played FFXIV during beta and at that time it was still a hotkey based combat - you've got about three switchable sets of five hotkey skills and that's it. And they've got cooldowns like WoW, not to mention you had attack delay before attacking. Unless they completely changed the battle system it should be the same - has it changed?

I really liked Path of Exile and played it through the end (if you can call it like that). But let's be honest. However the game is good, it's just poor in content compared to huge titles like MMORPGs usually are. Last time I checked, in PoE I had five or six locations (or chapters) and a few bosses. This compared to games like TERA or FFXIV is not much. You basically run the same bosses, the same places all over again if you want to stay longer in it.

I tried Scarlet Blade too. I heard it's not bad, but I cannot say more. I was completely turned away by poor graphics, huge flat and empty spaces (like in old school MMOs in style of Lineage 2) and very bad animation. I wouldn't mind playing with a hot half-naked chick, but come on, at least let her animation be pleasant to the eye. I just couldn't stand it for long, so I quit fast. (Actually the same happened when I tried RIFT, praised by many, but OMG, those clumsy animations were putting me off).

Too much degree I have to agree with Green_Hilltop
MMOs today are WOW-clones, only some done better, some worse.
Some have better combat, but worse story, some have better graphics but worse combat, others have great world design but silly setting, etc.