I don't think the (lacking) ad campaign here in NA has done the game any favors. As well, I think anyone with their finger on the pulse of the MMO scene at least knows about it. For the impossible-to-please-hardcores, the game probably won't get a warm reception since they'll want to be comparing launch content to stuff that's been around for years or more. As well, you'll have a bit of confirmation bias from those who really don't want to "give up" their other-game avatars because of time investment. And, you know, ******** about "training wheels" for the early content and stuff like that.
For the more uninitiated, the game will obviously need to avoid errors like the 90000/3102 combo at launch and later. Otherwise, I'd say the foundation is there for something potentially good as long as SE doesn't get lazy like they did with XI.
An 8, give or take some decimals, probably isn't unreasonable. Yet I also expect your usual reviewers to be jaded and biased. So seeing something less, especially for a game you can't "beat" in a handful of hours won't surprise me in the slightest. In the end, it's up to SE to catch the casual crowd. I worry about them retaining them in pandering to more hardcore types with endgame, but we'll see. At the very least, I don't expect doom and gloom like this.