Most of that was player driven submissions, though, and acquired through the old fashioned method of finding it, then sharing it. It's not like MMOChampion where they would data mine items from the game files and post a shitload of datamined images. Places like Allakahazam relied on actual players looting an item, then submitting a screenshot to their site of said item. Plus, shit like ShowEQ helped in locating specific spawn locations and the like (every damn end game guild had someone using that program).
The point is the rate at which shit would be uncovered would be far higher than it was back in the day. If we had to make a comparison, in era of EQ1 you were dealing with garage tinkerers and in the modern era, you're dealing with a corporation. People pining for the days of "mystery mmo where we dont know what anything does" are deluding themselves into thinking most of that shit wouldn't be cracked within a few weeks. There is actual monetary stakes for the gaming population. First guy who starts posting Youtube videos or whatever with legit "need to know" information gets the big following and those sweet ad dollars.