As for the WoW hate... I get it. I don't like WoW ether. It is also known that most of WoW is a much easier than EQ. But the contention that the top raiding scene is less competitive, skill oriented, or popular, is just objectively wrong.
This doc is pretty interesting (I'd skip the first 10 mins or so):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k6q1VqMG0I
It should fill you in on how the top raid scene is evolving and how competitive WoW has become.