I signed up months ago, but I don't think I'm going to play it. I loathe grind.
Also, WoW is six years old, and its graphics were dated even at the time, being only a little better than those used in Warcraft 3, which is eight years old. Besides, they aim at allowing as many people to play as possible, not at having cutting-edge graphics.
In the expansions, the areas have become more and more visually impressive, they've added some effects but, more importantly perhaps, gave the player more to look at. And they'll do a complete overhaul of the existing mainland in the coming expansion Cataclysm.
Finally, I'm kinda sure they're going to announce World of Starcraft soon (possibly within the next two years), which will probably have graphics comparable with Starcraft II. Which isn't the graphically most impressive game liek evar, but it compensates in gameplay. I hope.
Finally, pirates and good graphics don't make a good game.