I dunno... Dark and Light sounds rather different from the usual. At it's heart it's a giant PvP (kindom of darkness vs Kindom of light) rather like DAoC I suppose, but you can help your kingdom without fighting by doing economic and political stuff =o
There's also no 'shards', if you play the game you play with everyone. It's got landscapes and draw-distances unheard of previously and such a complex and dynamic weather system it's practically real. Weather even effects your character and the environments; ie if it's raining you'll find the ground slippery and hard to fight/travel on. There's also hurricanes and sandstorms and all kinds of nonsense. The scale of the game is huuuuuuuuge ^^;
I'd say more but they're being vague at the moment with details, though there is a closed beta running which I've applied for =3