You will not have to make another character unless you need a mule to store equipment and materials. Plus, every other MMO costs around $15 a month, and every other MMO out there will not let you two-box on the same account. The monthly fee is good for the developers to create more content, fix bugs and keep everything in-game moderated.
I think that if you are into MMO's, this is one of the more mature-based games than something like World of Warcraft. It is heavily party-based, focusing on battle mechanics and strategy (not to mention a lot of tedious grinding, but what MMO doesn't?). I had a lot of fun in the 3-or-so years I had played, hope you like it.