Not much sandboxy, aside from the horizontal progression.
@Launch Problems
Chat has still problems with loosing subscribed channels ( you have to manually re-add them ) when you zone, which is extremely annoying. Aside from that I'd put it down under 'minor inconvenciences', such as a few missions with bugs ( the one with the white ravens is one of them, it is only solvable if you've already done it / have someone with you who knows, which is especially annoying for an investigation mission.
), however I wouldn't call it "progress halting". Lag, rubberbanding, login troubles etc are things that are apparently not happening ( and no, the government doesn't hush it up
).
Considering that it is Funcom who made this game I would say they're over their reputation regarding "Horrible launches". This is, however, my personal experience, including my social sphere and the forums.
About ragequitting: The forums have seen someone throw a fit because some people want the option to have smaller boobs on their avatars. His response is delicious forum
rage. Add the usual threads about how "this game won't make it" because the OP dislikes it and you got your regular launch enviroment. Haters hate, fanboys are gathering to the thread-rescue and the majority simply plays.