i don't think its the time sinks that make it difficult, directly. there's a couple pieces, here are examples...
1) death - you lose XP, and have to get your corpse. its not the time sink inherently that makes it hard, its the THREAT of dying (and the ease at which you can die) that makes EQ hard.
2) travel - No, going from one place to another isn't hard at level 50, but because of the threat of dying and having do it all over again, travel can be quite hard at low levels...and if you are so against the time sink, then get a port, its not difficult to do and requires that you (GASP!) talk to other people.
like others said in the wow thread, p1999 is a very niche hobby, and to me the allure is that the above 2 things (and others) make EQ very immersive. Being scared of death makes death feel more real than it does in wow or modern EQ, and therefore makes the whole experience more interesting/fun. Likewise, the long travel times at low levels make the world feel big, and give noobs a reason to stay in certain spots instead of trucking it to where everyone else is (like paludal caverns when luclin came out).
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