I hated EQ. I started playing it in 99, I played for 1 month more than a trial. I quit really quickly after that. The game never captured me. At the time I was playing an immersive roleplaying mmo and it was just a better experience than EQ. So I tried EQ again after I stopped playing that game. I played for another month. Hated it. Again, it couldn't capture me in those early levels that are so critical to keeping your player base.

That being said. I hated WoW. I gave WoW a try on a friend's account sometime close to release. At the time I pretty much hated every MMO, because of the level treadmill and all that. I played for like two kills and said f this, this is boring. A yearslater I was tricked into playing WoW by my wife who had started while I was away during Air Force Tech school. I haven't looked back. When I actually gave it a chance, WoW captured me in the early levels and no cartooniness has ever got in the way of my enjoyment of gameplay.