It really does depend on your definition of difficulty and what part of the game we're comparing.
To me, EQ is about leveling - that's what I always have spent most time doing. Even the few characters that I got to max level on live, didn't see all that much raiding, since I just started a new alt to level up. In WoW, leveling is a joke - so much so, that you can just buy a max level character from Blizzard now.
And if we are comparing the difficulty in leveling, I think EQ is definitely much more punishing than WoW. They're not even close. One of my favourite new features on GiantBomb, is their new hire Dan Ryckert doing a 30-day trial of WoW as a person who has never played any MMOs. He is managing to level up and play the game, even though he is truly clueless and barely using his skills correctly. Now if he were to do a similar feature on P1999, I doubt he would get very far.
I think the best indicator of the difference is the mentality by which you approach new areas in both games. In WoW, you can just run in and start beating on stuff. If it turns out to be too much and you die - oh well, not that big of a deal. In EQ, if you're not familiar with the place, you will scout the area, looking for the static spawns and any pathers. You'll have probably read about the zone/mobs before even logging in. You will have a plan to escape/survive if things go south. You'll set up your spells to deal with the specific situation at hand.
I mean, shit - as I keep leveling my druid, the option to charm in Kedge will present itself. That idea is scary as hell, as it's one of those zones I've never played in. I'm not sure if I'll ever take the plunge or if I'll opt to do something safer. I've never had to have such deliberations about anything in WoW.
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