Well, I played EQ1 and I think a lot of you guys are batshit insane. I also hate seeing people continually roll out the rose-colored glasses as if EQ1 was a non-stop MMO orgasm. There was a fuckton of dissatisfaction and I think that is why Furor's rant resounded with as many people as it did (not counting the people that thought he was being egotistical or whatever) and why so many fled EQ1 for WOW.
I mean, was there wonder? Sure. But I can't sit here with a straight face and honestly think that the odds are good that Brad is going to nail that same feeling. And you can't just make a game solely on that feeling of "wonder", LOL.
Once in a blue moon I'll meet someone who played and misses part of EQ1, but that's pretty rare. I know one person at work who played and sometimes I'll stop by her part of the building and maybe hum the login music or drop a"You ruined your own lands..."quote on her from out of the blue. But the number of people who even recognize EQ1 as something other than"That game you old fucks talk about"is steadily dwindling.
EQ1 was never really part of a larger cultural zeitgeist, so to speak. Games like WOW or LoL? Those actually broke out into something larger. In some ways I think EQ1 is still talked about in the same way as BBS games and MUDs are, and the stereotype of neckbeards that go with it shouldn't be much of a surprise.
Who remembers LORD? Tradewars? I think I played a Star Trek MUD at one point. Point is, these games (and EQ1) totally inhabit the extreme neckbeard portion of the gaming spectrum, stereotype or not. Unless you totally buy into this EQ1 commercial, LOL: