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Everquest is about as "old-school" as an MMORPG can get -- 3D era at least, and not just in terms of graphics, but rather gaming concepts. If they have any interest in the gameplay mechanics of pen-and-paper games such as Dungeons and Dragons, and enjoy video games that are extremely challenging, but equally rewarding, chances are they can overcome the game's shortcomings. Most of these shortcomings are simply related to its age and archaic netcode, but to be honest after playing for a few weeks or months, players enjoying the experience will probably forget all about the little problems with the game. It hardly needs to be said, but it also helps tremendously if new players have other real-life friends who are making the journey with them.

To address your 3 concerns:

Graphics don't make a game. That's been pretty clear since video gaming began. If they get hung up on "bad" graphics, there's not really much you or anyone can do about it. If this is the case, and you really want them to play, try to make them understand the graphics aren't, and never were bad, rather they are just charmingly aged in 2015.

There are quests. Thousands of them. The game is literally named after them. That being said, it is pretty obvious that the game in its current state does not revolve around questing, at least at the low level. One of the beautiful things about EverQuest is that quests aren't handed to you on a silver platter. You discover the quests, you discover how to progress and complete them, and you discover the rewards. The emphasis here is that everything revolves around the player's own ingenuity and personal drive in terms of questing. If your friends are fully acclimated to the modern style of questing, popularized by games such as World of Warcraft, where questing is simply a light stroll through the park while the game holds your hand, then show them why the old system is (or at least can be) better for serious players. If this doesn't work. Show them the wiki, allakhazam, and other classic-era questing resources. If they enjoy other aspects of the game, I'm sure they can overcome EQ's style of questing.

There are no in-game interface driven maps. To me this is a huge, huge plus to EverQuest, it encourages player learning and world interaction. It forces you to learn maps, not just follow guides. You'll quickly create mental maps driven by familiar landmarks, and end up knowing a zone so much better than if you had simply followed a pregenerated map every step of the way. If they can't overcome this, there is of course dozens of variations of every classic EQ map in existence. EverQuest is a light-weight enough client that keeping a browser open with maps is pretty trivial. Honestly though, I'd encourage them to go without using maps whenever possible. It's amazing how much more intimate and personal a zone can feel when you learn it and mentally map it yourself.

Some final words I use to encourage my own friends who enjoy MMO's, but haven't necessarily played classic EverQuest:

EverQuest is a game that revolves around you as a player, and how you interact with the world, and the other players that inhabit it. It rewards players for their own ability, and very, very rarely holds your hand along the way. Few other MMOs that I've played, and I've played most all of them worth their salt, focus so heavily on social player interaction. This is one aspect I heavily relate to pen-and-paper style gaming. Your party / group dynamics are extremely important, and creating balanced, well-rounded parties, with other players who are interactive and cooperative is incredibly fun and rewarding. This is even truer for new players who aren't just rehashing content, but exploring areas for the first time. I don't mean to say a min-maxed "holy trinity" party is essential, but rather that a party (and the players in it) cooperate and interact well, and are able to adapt challenging situations.

The death penalties are cruel, corpse recoveries can be long and arduous, and leveling is an absolute crawl through the sludge compared to modern MMO's, but all of these things make conquering the game and achieving your own personal goals that much more rewarding. I encourage anyone who feels like they will like the game, but find the very early content too punishing, to push on and try to overcome. Consider it a challenge to overcome rather than punishment to simply suffer through. If someone is enjoying the game in general, but about to quit because they can't get past the early levels, give them a nudge in the right direction with some starter gear or help in getting a few extra levels.

Early Everquest is my all-time favorite game, and is responsible for most of the truly memorable experiences I've had in gaming. It's pretty hard to see or explain why the game was / still is such an amazing experience unless you really play it.

Hope this helps, and I'm always willing to provide some advice or starter gear in-game, especially for all new players.