I kind of feel like the downturn in MMO quality has less to do with derivative design and more with poor execution on the systems put in place. Every genre has its fair share of "samey" design choices. The difference between a good and bad game is how much fun it is.
It looks like the Wildstar team understands this. Maybe it won't turn out well, but as long as the game is polished and fun, it will keep my interest.
You're absolutely right. There have been a handful of MMOs that have been designed extremely well but lack the proper polish on their core experiences that make it wholly unenjoyable.
Fortunately for WildStar, they have a team that's been through all of that and, for at least the "samey" concepts, can implement them in a smart and fun way. Hell, I'm merely speaking from all the videos I've watched. I'm still partially skeptical and I wouldn't be surprised at all if this was another shallow entry into the genre. But I'd like to believe this time.