Hi Ors,
I experienced the same feeling when I first received mine, because I did exactly what you did, which is rush to see it in action.
However, Macgyver is right on target. Your eyes must be fully adapted to the dark( pay attention here, you will see this again!) to truly appreciate the light your glowrings emit. Also he's right when he says that a light colored surface like a white wall or inner tent will greatly enhance perceived light output due to reflection.
If you are a looking for more light output still, there is a device that is actually a glowring on steroids called a "Beta Light" .
I have two of these "monsters" to complete my collection of glowrings and think they are great (yes, I bought many more after my initial dissappointment) . This little nugget is capable of giving off enough light to read by in total darkness (they are actually made for this purpose) and when suspended inside your tent will light up a small dome tent with a VERY soft green glow, enough ( to dark adapted eyes, once again) to "find your way" and distinguish gear in total darkness and clearly see facial expressions of others in your tent.
Btw. if you're seeing faces inside your tent and you're hiking alone you may need help from someone other than us from the ETS community to solve that one for you <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.
If you are interested, here is where I got mine :
www.edirectory.co.uk/penrithsurvival
At approx. $91.oo USD the price my seem steep, but keep in mind that these things run 24/7 for over 10 years which turns out an operational cost of less than ten bucks a year <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> !!
Hope this helps.
Pharaoh.