Hell, I've stopped smoking cigarettes and started exercising regularly since getting into massive multiplayers, seems a fair trade of vices to me. The climb up the rungs of power gets really long monotonous and lonely if you go at it alone. Making ego concessions in a team will get you further faster and jolt your emotional meter more. Which should be seen in the light of the fact that the fastest and most reliable 'quick session' method (solo missions) doesn't let you readily tap off the benefits of being in a team. There are plenty of other windows of opportunity that you can window-shop though, AO's chat manager is a unique & powerful beastie.
In any case, AO remains the MMO that's most readily capable of dividing goals at short enough intervals that you can get in and out quickly and come away with progression every time. The fast-paced play style is a hallmark that Marius, the next AO game director, intends to vitalize further. The intellectual transfer across states, nations and time zones is a pull for me personally, though localisation remains a challenge.
Happy United Nations day!
Edit: Link to index of Shadowlands reviews (average = 88'ish)
http://www.anarchy-online.com/content/game/shadowlands/reviews/This comment was edited on Oct 25, 10:49.