Different games, different feel altogether. However, both are free to play, so you can try them out and see which appeals to you more.
I played EQ from 1999 to 2011, with a long break in the middle. I've now been playing EQ2 exclusively for just over a year. Both are great games; however, they are very different games. I think that EQ2 is a little more robust in terms of having a greater variety of things to do, but I will always love EQ1. This will be extremely long, for which I apologize, but maybe it will help with your decision. Also, I'm sure that I missed a million important things here, but just to get you started... Where abilities are concerned, in EQ1, you are more limited in terms of how many spells you can have on your screen at a given time. You will need to choose, out of every spell in your book, a mere 8 to place in your spell bar (which can be expanded to 12 with AAs). These can be swapped out in combat, but it takes a few seconds. You can also save and load spell sets. In EQ1, you have to have enough money to go buy your spells at every level in which you get new ones. In EQ2, the apprentice version of a spell just pops up on your hotbar when you hit the level at which it is available. You then need to upgrade the spell, but at least you get access to a lesser quality version of the spell without having to figure out what spells you should have, where the different vendors are, save money while foregoing some spells, etc. EQ1's AA tree is absolutely enormous, which may be intimidating for new players, as established max level players are sporting AA counts of over 5,000. It is also worth pointing out that level and AA grinding in EQ1 are more tedious than in EQ2. In EQ2, on the other hand, you have just 320 AAs to deal with, plus your prestige points, which makes the process of getting to max level/AAs more tolerable. In spite of the disparity in numbers of AAs, I do not feel more limited by EQ2's system. As far as combat mechanics goes, EQ1's are somewhat slower-paced, which will appeal to some. There isn't quite as much frantic button pressing over there, and you have a little (albeit possibly very little) more time to make decisions while in combat. Personally, I find EQ2's combat mechanics to be more engaging. I like the faster paced combat and the min-maxing that goes on with parses and analysis of overall performance over here. This is something that will appeal to some, and won't to others. You will find greater emphasis on damage parses in EQ2, which might be worth mentioning. Raids and groups have a distinct feel in EQ1 that I would have trouble articulating. It is almost more...cooperative? Perhaps that isn't the appropriate word, but since there is not a distinct solo tier in EQ1, you will depend more on the company of others. This is not to say that certain classes can not solo/duo group content in EQ1, as they certainly can. There just is not a distinct tier of solo content in that game. Because of this, a newer player without an established group of friends may spend a lot of time in the guild lobby looking for a group. Both games are old enough to be quite top-heavy (e.g., most players are at max level), so you may have trouble teaming up with other players until you are at or near max level. In EQ2, however, you have very distinct types of play: overland quests for solo content, heroic zones for group content, and epic zones for raid content. In EQ1, it's more like "Welcome to EverQuest! You have died!" New toons spawn with a cloth shirt and a rusty dagger, pretty much, and no instruction for what to do next. While this holds a certain degree of charm and nostalgia for EQ1 players, I think that EQ2 is much easier for a new player to jump into. Also, you will generally have to do much more actual questing in EQ2. The community in EQ1 also differs from EQ2. There is still a certain courtesy toward others that is regarded as generally acceptable behavior in EQ1. This is not to say that every single person you run across will be considerate, but some old behaviors that you won't find in newer games still exist over there. For example, it's common courtesy when your group enters a contested dungeon to shout, "camp check," to which people will reply the areas in which their respective groups are fighting. This way, you know what areas to avoid and what areas are open for you to claim. Also, if someone is camping, say, a lower level mob for a quest item, others will generally respect that person's right to that mob for as long as they are logged in. You'll find folks, on average, being extremely cooperative, even going so far as to send you tells asking what you're after so that they don't step on your toes. Now, as the game has aged, some of this courtesy has dwindled, but there is still a lot of it there, and it's just plain cool. While you will find many very nice people in EQ2, the overarching feel of the community is just not the same. Then again, I don't know that we'll ever see a community like EQ1's again. One interesting feature in EQ1 is fellowships; that is, a group of friends smaller than a guild (and independent of their guild tags) can form a group called a fellowship. Fellowships have their own chat channel and portal device, called a campfire. Once three fellowship members are present at any given locale, they can plop down a campfire, to which any other fellowship members can port. Given that we have Call of the Veteran and more travel methods available to us in EQ2, I can't say that I miss this feature; however, it's very helpful for EQ1. On a slightly unrelated note, the amenities for guild halls in EQ2 are generally more useful than those in EQ1. Tradeskills in EQ1 are tedious at best. You basically just make sure that you have the raw materials in your inventory, and then click the combine button repeatedly. Seriously. Like, a thousand times. EQ2's tradeskill system is interactive, and I would recommend EQ2 hands-down for crafty folks. Yes, it is still somewhat tedious to level tradeskills, but it's definitely a step up from its predecessor. I also like that the things that you craft in this game are generally useful as you level up, especially mastercrafted armor, jewelry and weapons, and expert spells. Also, if housing floats your boat, EQ1 housing looks and feels crude in comparison to what we can accomplish over here. On the bright side, however, EQ1's in-house item placement system is superior. Oh, and regarding mercenaries: I find EQ1 mercenaries to be a bit...smarter. The healers especially are really quite good, as mercenaries go. We've used one healer mercenary to solo heal a group where a mage's earth pet was tanking, lol. It works much better with two mercs, but still...that's pretty decent.
I hate carpal tunnel enducing crafting sessions, its one of the annoying things about crafting in Vanguard: Saga... so this post has been informative and has helped me decide on trying EQ2 first. Thanks!
