I've never played an mmo, but this game really caught my eye. Do you think that this game is worth the investment, both time and money, or should I just go with the most popular one, WOW?

well, I'm for sure going to play it, but if you want to start an MMO right now play WoW.

If i were you i really wouldn't start off with WoW. Especially now cause as you begin to level in it, especially now since basically half the users in are already lvl 70 it feels like your a useless noob. If you wait for Warhammer you will be starting off at lvl 1 along with everybody else so you will have more fun and find more people to do questing with and will be more welcome. Instead of being lvl 7 and called a noob by lvl 70s like WoW.

Yeah, what Avacado said.  WoW is all about gear.  If you started playing now, you will be totally useless, and pretty much everyone you group with will have multiple level 70 characters and will just be rushing through levels so they can get back to raiding with their guild.  When you finally do reach the highest level, you will be overwhelmed because of how many tiers of gear there are.  There are so many established guilds, it will be very hard for you to get geared up, and when you finally do so, Blizzard will just release more gear anyway.  In Warhammer Online, the best gear will only improve your stats by 50%, it's about RvR, skill, and team work, not about who has the best gear.  I'm not trying to bash WoW, just giving you the facts.

When WoW first came out it was a good MMO to start out with.  But now its just to far along.  WAR should be a good beginners MMO.  From what I have seen the game does not look to hardcore like EQ or Vanguard.

My first MMO was with EQ back in 2000, nothing free at the time that had the same quality, i don't see this game being too hard to break into, i'd say WoW isn't hard to get into now either, starting EQ on the other hand (14 expansions to install alone!)

No doubt that Mythic will help you along your first MMO experience, i'd like to say every MMO out there has an introduction first few quests that will get you going, pretty standard these days

"No it's not.... go for something free first to see how you waste time playing MMORPGs, MU Online is cool for the start, and to tell the truth... paying a monthly fee just to play a game is just ridiculous and I would never do it regardless of the game's quality.
"

Dude, I've never played one before, but I'm buying a whole new PC/Laptop just for this game :)