Kind of funny hearing how many people were blown away. I've been sitting here for 25 years assuming everyone had the same "meh" experience that I did when it came to the initial look/feel of EQ. Now I'm going to have to go back and talk to my friends to see if maybe I'm misremembering and they were blown away and it's just me that wasn't lol.
Edit:
My progression into the EQ abyss was pretty much:
First day- meh, looks ok and plays ok but not super impressive. Also how the fuck do I get out of this city.
After a few days- still not very impressed with the looks/gameplay. I kept dying and I wasn't getting anywhere (solo dwarf rogue). But i began to appreciate the size and scope of the game. That WAS impressive.
Few more days switched classes and began to get the feel of combat. Explored even more and started realizing just how much depth there was to not jut the world, but the gameplay. Also really started grouping and realizing what an mmo meant.
By the end of the first week or so I was totally hooked and wouldn't come up for air until 2004.
Couple things that may have contributed to my early experience: I started in Kaladim/BB which isn't a particularly impressive starting area. Also my graphics card was awful so I definitely wasn't seeing the game in full glory.
