Wow, I agree with Sam! A momentous day to be sure.

I think you're right that a fair amount of it is/was because it was the first. However, I recently went back and played EQ a bit and it still has something that wow doesn't. Part of it is the lore I know, but in general, I do think the zones just seem more ominous in general.

It's a much softer game now than then, and mostly for the better, but it still has a little something that wow lacks, at least at the level that EQ seems to have it.