I recommend Vindictus. Not really full scale mmo title (world is not open, it is mission based title) but it has one of the greatest combat systems I have seen. Your gear is not that important as your skill and control over your character. It is free to play.
I played it up to about a year ago, and I have to say it is pretty good. It could be better however, if it had more of Mabinogi (the previous game): an open world + dungeons, the possibility to mix abilities without class restrictions, and instead of choosing what ability to level up, you had to use it in order for it to become stronger.