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Lets be honest here. MMO gameplay is inherently shallow, it's just a limitation of the genre. Aside from mindlessly mashing a few more buttons than you do in EQ, and avoiding the fire, WoW isn't much deeper.
I agree that all MMO gameplay is generally shallow due to the nature of the genre, of course. But I have to disagree that WoW isn't significantly deeper. The button mashing is significantly less mindless than it was in EQ. At the very least you're almost always doing something that requires somewhat of an attention span. I can't say the same about EQ, especially the mechanics of most encounters were simple tank and spanks. Even if the same could be said about WoW, almost every class has a distinct rotation the developers intentionally put in for just about every class I can think of, and usually the situation and timing may require a different type of rotation.
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There's actually quite a bit I'm enjoying about EQ right now, and it's not just all about "gameplay". I know it's good for the short-attention-span crew, but WoW basically just herds you from place to place and then spits you out in Shattrath/Dalaran/Whatever's next and funnels you from linear instance to linear instance.
I'd argue the short-attention span crew might find themselves more at home in EQ considering the additional depth of encounters. In the case of attention span, gameplay may indeed be a critical component because you can't simply autoattack.
EQ still has linear components to it, even if they're less obvious. I'll agree it's more freeform, but that I can't see that reasoning alone be enough to draw one back from WoW or another newer MMORPG.
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It's nice to spelunk my way through a non-linear dungeon, actually getting lost sometimes (I STILL fucking get lost in Guk!!! How?! I'm so bad.) actually running into random other people that may or may not affect my situation, etc. It's nice actually doing things in the world itself. (Including PvP, as crappy as EQ PvP might be.)
Does it have problems? Oh god yes. They're everywhere. If WoW is a shiny, polished product, EQ is like a tarnished old piece of silver. But, and I remember saying this before I started playing and my experience so far has confirmed it, I feel much more like I'm in a "world" in EQ than in WoW. Illusory? Sure. But hey, isn't everything in these things?
Ugh, I attempted PvP so many times in EQ only to be left with a horrible taste in my mouth. The biggest problem is that the game wasn't built with it in mind, and it completely shows in every way.
It does have a more "worldly" feel to it, I agree. I just find myself unconvinced that these intangibles are enough to justify playing it again. Again, if you enjoy it, more to ya - it's a matter of taste, and I understand where you're coming from because I have bouts of nostalgia myself. These are aspects I'd like to see more of in WoW, and we both had quite the lengthly debate with Argrax in the other thread about it. I just don't see these few positives being enough to outshine all of the bad aspects.
On the other hand there's easily something tangible about the sheer polish of WoW, the mechanics that for the most part have been gone over with a fine-tooth comb, the PvP which remains some of the best PvP in an MMO to date, the raids(particularly Ulduar, which has been quite good since release) are engaging and non-static, even the 5-man dungeons are a longshot from what they were in vanilla WoW when we had like 2-3 dungeons to crawl through, and of course the general combat mechanics. There's really a lot to do if you actually let yourself get absorbed in it.