"I can honestly say that I haven't seen art in an MMO that has stopped me in my tracks this many times since Guild Wars."

While I'm not sure I'd go quite this far, I too thought the art quality and especially character model details were near GW levels, and that's not a compliment I'd give to most other games on the market. I also agree with your assessment that the graphics are more remniscent of Warhammer than WoW - that's definitely the feel I got, especially with the Orcs (who are literally football hooligans in this game!).