In Search fo the Next EverQuest

The gals over at Killer Betties have published an editorial entitled "In Search of the Next EverQuest", in which they offer a few reasons why no current MMO titles stand up to the original MMORPG behemoth. An excerpt:
The closest I came to just right was EverQuest II. Like many, I fell fast and hard for the fabulous videos and dazzling screenshots. I haunted the EQ II forums and bought into all the hype. I pre-ordered my game so I could get the free character creator disk and play around with customizing my new character well before the game launched and I could actually play her. I was one of the first people at the store picking up my game on launch day. I was so ready for a new level of immersion.the brand new sparkling next-generation MMO that was EverQuest. And at first I loved the game. I was impressed by life-like NPCs who gestured and actually spoke via voice-overs instead of text their mouths even moved! I explored the enormous city Qeynos had become, and visited all the little hamlets the various races inhabited. I experimented with crafting and I eve rode griffons (although World of Warcraft had them, too). For a while I enjoyed myself, and then one day I noticed that my desire to play was dwindling. Many of my friends, those who were equally amped about EQ II pre-launch, had already left the game. While I was one of the last holdouts among my friends, I eventually quit EQ II and unsubscribed. What was the problem with EQ II? I'm not entirely certain that I can sum it up easily except to say that I felt it lacked the depth, complexity and challenge I was looking for.