[Leniri]

I was looking for more or less the same thing about a year ago. I found and never looked back. The game is RP-Mandatory, has a wide assortment of races without going completely over the top, doesn't have any pay-to-win features, and boasts around twenty years of development and RP. The setting is fantasy renaissance/early modern with some steampunk and magitek elements.

The game does have classes. The main difference between them is how fast you progress in various skills and what sort of magic you have access to, but there's an enormous amount of customization available there to allow you to build your character more or less as you like. The world itself is rich and vibrant, with tons of flavor text and an enormous world to explore:

[City of Kaezar, Tempest Road at Avanil Way, Crossroads]
Sitting in the shadow of the clock tower to the east, a large stone building occupies the entire side of the block. A wooden placard is fixed to the wall in a prominent position above a bench near its door. Pockmarked with holes and loose stones from the carts and wagons that traffic to the northern, eastern, western and southern sections of Kaezar City, the cobbled road is riddled with frozen slush and icy puddles. You see a large snowbank.
Cardinal Exits: east, south, west, and north.
Other Exits: a large stone building.

Leveling is mostly combat-based, but the game utilizes a buffer system that allows you to rack up several hours' worth of experience in a short time. This means you can spend an hour or so killing orcs and earn hours of buffer which converts into experience over time, so you can put your sword up and go RP while still advancing your character. Even better, it's completely unnecessary. Many of the game's "top players" have been around for years and years without ever getting anywhere near the level cap.

So come say hi! As a player, I've never seen anything that even comes close to UL, and I'm always eager to point people in the direction of a game I wish I'd got into years ago.