Copying here an opinion I wrote about EQ2:

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It’s possible that EQLive players will try EQ2. And they really feel it too bland, simplified and not better than their old game of choice. A game where they are already established, with an insane amount of time invested, and where they feel comfortable.
This while new or ex players will try it and hate it exactly because it smells EQ too much. There are reasons why some of them have left and the new version doesn’t offer anything new exactly on those “hot spots” that made peoples leave or simply hate the whole concept of the game.

Summarizing even more:
Old players- Not enough different from EQLive to choose it.
New players- Too close to EQLive to offer something different.

EQ2 seems in the middle. The risk is that it won’t get new players, nor the old fans. Haemish summarizes the concept:

I went in TRYING to find something different from EQ1, mainly something in the gameplay which was interesting and new to someone who is burned out on MMOG mechanics. And I found more of the same old boring shit.