With respect, I've been reading that line for years ("magic is gone, it's like your first kiss, yada yada") and I have to disagree.
I think it depends on how the game & world is designed. I felt some of that magic again with SWG and briefly with TSW, but not several other MMO's in-between, including EQ2.
The market is flooded with stale, uninspired clones that don't even grok what EQ1 did right. They add little tweaks to be modern, unique, different.. but they're all the same at the core.
Even the original EQ2 back in 2004 didn't get it, eliminating most of what made EQ1 so special. EQ2 was basically a tightly controlled MMO on rails after they gutted the EQ1 mechanics that provided for emergent behavior and social interaction.
* Leashed mobs - just keep running! no danger in traveling anymore.
* Easy traveling (bells, griffons, etc) - because we need to group NOW, not in 5-15 minutes. also giving up dangers of travel, socializing, exploring, etc.
* Resetting mobs - no more trains and unwanted deaths (*gasp*) in a scary, risky world.. but no more sense of danger, or socializing while helping strangers derail them.
* Locked encounters - no more kill steals, but no more socializing while helping strangers stay alive.
* Group-only buffs - adding 'strategy' for finely-tuned encounters, but removed another social and immersive aspect (drive by buffing, helping noobs & friends, etc).
* Raid limits - see above. did anyone really care that some guilds zerged? nobody was left out of a raid, it was fun for them, and ubers still knew they were awesome.
* Buff concentration slots - see above. these were serious sacrifices to the social game and 'world feeling', in an effort to tightly control the flow/strategy of the game.
* Mob group indicators & up/down heroic indicators - see above.
* Watered down classes - no more trinity, but less attachment to your character since no class was really 'special' anymore.
* Questing for xp & running thru dungeons - no more 'boring' camping, but much less socializing and sense of danger (buh bye camp checks, hello racing back and forth with 6 other groups keeping the dungeon cleared).
* 100+ spells/combat arts for everyone - more action, less socializing, and a carpal tunnel inducing dps fest - memorize your 20 key rotation and repeat it.
* Bind on equip - allegedly easing mudflation(?), but no more passing down or lending gear to friends and noobs.
* New gear sets every (5?) levels - ew, piece of candy, ew piece of candy.. but no more memorable gear, just a fine-tuned gear spreadsheet/treadmill.
* Outleveling gear - see above.
* Required gear levels - twinking is bad mkay, except that twinking added yet another piece of that 'magic' puzzle.
* Dropping items on ground - don't know why they ditched this, but it helped EQ1 feel like a real world to me.
* Vendor diving - see above.
* Auction houses - instant access to gear, but no more socializing in the EC tunnel and now everyone has the same stuff at a moment's notice.
* Flashing lights above important NPC's - because we need it NOW! who needs discovery, lore, or feeling like you're in a world when we can have 'questing by numbers'.
See the pattern here?
I could go on, there's more.. but the gist is, these changes removed much of the magic - socializing, sense of danger, character attachment, world immersion - that made EQ1.
Little to none of that has been repeated in any MMO since, so I'm doubting that "you'll never re-experience your first kiss" line. At least that's my take on it, I've been wrong before.
Sorry for the wall. I'm new and should shut the face until I've earned my place.. hoping for a pass on this one.
