When it says third quarter, thats the limit set on getting the beta finished.
Theres still a shit load of bugs being found in the beta, we have had a SHIT LOT to rewrite.
I joined the team late on, and il have you know, EA are playing a minor part in the development, RTW still runs the show, but the funding was hard to come by. The idea of a monthly subscription came from EA, but it was dismissed, as this would lose a large player base.
I cant say too much, as panda and jay know, but it WILL be worth the wait, it is frankly the best thing iv ever seen.
We are still tweaking the ideas with the music system at the moment, as the current idea is incredibly resource-hungry. :P