EQ and AO were the only MMOs I ever cared to play. Upon taking up a trial of WoW I found it so incredibly dull that I quit.
What bothered me in WoW more than anything were the pop culture references in a fantasy setting. If I want to immerse myself in a multiplayer game of FW: FW: FW: FW: FW: e-mail messages that my aunt sends me, I'll go play WoW for the low-brow humor. Both classic EQ and classic AO have an atmosphere that really makes you feel like you're part of the world. Eventually both Sony and Funcom fell away from that and the games no longer have the same appeal. I do blame the market for MMOs going from actual interesting lore to money-makers. Even single player games still try to tell a story - what are MMOs trying to do at this point?
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