I love my KR. 
and I was there for the UO Beta way back when so I played the 2d client since 97'. I don't like the constant crashes though that must be from the memory leaks you mentioned... I didn't know that it's sucking my RAM. Does EA know this?
Yes, they know. It's actually much better then when they first introduced KR. I've patched up every time they've released new code, and it has steadily gotten better. However, after this long I would have thought it would be completely gone or at least so slow that it's not perceptible.
I hate bashing KR. I was so excited when I first heard about it. Remember the days when you could stand outside the Vesper or Magincia banks to see it teaming with people? I really miss those days. It's going to take a pretty serious bump in the visual technology to sway some people away from the other games that presently have them enamored. However when we were presented with KR (after WoW, LOTR, etc) I just couldn't understand what they were thinking. The previews swere so-so, but I thought it was still Beta and I should wait. Well, we went from beta to release and there's nothing really new and exciting about the graphical presentation when there are so many other possibilities out there (like Titan Quest for example). At this point, I long for the possibility to have graphics on par with the original Diablo. Those are cutting edge compared to even KR.
For me, it's just one disappointment after another. UO2, UOX, UO3D all unsuccessful attempts at extending this franchise. Now we're left with KR, and "it needs to be fixed". I'm not sure how you can fix something that was so poorly implemented to begin with. There's a good basis from the 3D engine they chose, but man what the heck happened with the implementation?
Really, I do hate bashing KR....
There's a bunch with the KR client that I think has real promise. I love the tool bars, and the macros system is a step in the right direction. I just wish it was a bit more flexible. Also, I'm glad they are allowing for a custom look/feel of the client. I just hope they'll open it up as much as WoW did. There are some tremendous UI modifications/enhancements for WoW.
Anyhow, I remember 3DO. I think what put them out of business finally was their foray into console hardware. At that point, they had some cutting edge stuff, but ultimately the big boys put'em out of business. Don't feel too bad for them since even the giants like Sega finally couldn't stand the competition and decided (rightly so) to utilize other hardware and just make software. 3DO just didn't have the established named franchises (Sonic,etc)
But please stay optimistic. As you can tell, I've lost all hope; my optimism jar is empty.....
