I remember my father started to play this game a lot in late 1999 (EQ) and I would always pull up a chair to watch him play. The whole idea of a massive world that in a lot of ways functioned like real life was so damn enthralling to me in 4th grade. I loved watching his group of engineering buddies and him group up in Rathe and kill Hill Giants, I had never (don't think anyone did) seen anything like EverQuest, shit was amazing. I remember being bribed that if I did my homework, my parents would let me play on my own account. So I was like fuck tag football during recess, I will do my homework and go be a virtual legend right when I get home!
The game really honestly taught me a lot especially from a social aspect, the veil of anonymity from being online allowed me as a 11-14 yr old to play with people who were far older and more mature than I was, something I would never be able to do in real life at that age. I was fascinated with the EC tunnel, I found myself during my first year of playing EQ spending the majority of my time just trading and chatting with people. Learning how to turn fine steel longswords and shit into Platinum Fire Wedding Rings and what not, just from simply bartering. MMOs just like networking in real life really showed me the importance of getting to know people, people are easy to deal with the more you know about them.
EQ was so immersive that you really could become something special in that game, I really miss the sense of "World" that you received from EQ. As far as WoW, I played in a Top progression guild throughout MC-AQ in vanilla and it was awesome being cream of the crop. Vanilla was a phenomenal game, when it was actually somewhat of an MMO.