Having played all 3 prior to live eq getting muddled up with mudflation and umpteen billion aas ... I will say that from a player's perspective:
-Warrior gets the satisfaction of being "the man" tank taking the point position for raids. Lack of aggro control made the class frustrating to play a times, but at the same time liberating in that aggro was the roll of the dice and out of your direct control other than basic gearing. Once weapon affinity aa's went live, aggro wasn't a huge problem, and it was very satisfying to be a warrior with exceptional aggro. The expectation for groups was low, so when you performed well it was noticed and appreciated. After aggro disc abilities were introduced, the lines for "snap aggro" where knights held the advantaged paved the way for knights getting defensive disciplines ... which ultimately underlining the whole point of the warrior (the net results being knights reigning king for 99% of content). For classic, they are a good balance of dps with tankability. With a group that doesn't suck and good gear, they're very rewarding to play.
-SK was a blast to play. Versatile, mobile, hostile - reasonable dps and feign death was a game changer. Arguably the king of aggro (more so after terrors were added - but even in classic), but did not bring as much to a group as a paladin in other regards. For heavy hitting content (raids vs trying to single group velious lesser raid content vs named) both knights suffer for a lack of defensive compared to warriors.
-Paladin was arguably the least fun to play - but very powerful and rewarding. Aggro is/was easy, healing capability really helps, but in a fast paced group there won't be a ton of extra mana available to really use this heal potential unless you're talking eras that are well beyond the scope of p99. For heavy hitting content (raids vs trying to single group velious lesser raid content vs named) both knights suffer for a lack of defensive compared to warriors.
So why no pallies in p99 (or very few)? They're simply not as fun to play. They are incredibly powerful and useful in good hands, but their personal dps blows ... solo ability is terrible ... and their contributions usually aren't fully appreciated by the community at large even if played well. I'd wager it's a thankless job they do, even when done well.
For eras well beyond p99 (think live once knights got defensive abilities and mudflated aa's/spells), knights really do run circles around warriors most of the time.
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