For a more detailed thingamabob...
Graphics: Completely different styles. Warcraft is far more bright, high fantasy, very stylized. I love the mood it creates. EQ2 is more gritty, dark, kinda realistic fantasy. I think in a purely graphical sense, EQ2 does beat out WoW. The visuals even of the smallest details are stunning, and I gotta say that running all the way across Antonica, looking back and seeing Qeynos in the distance was a trip. When it comes to character design, let's go for WoW. Like I said, WoW is much more bright and stylized. I like seeing these absolutely gigantic axes on tiny gnomes. In EQ2, I got what I thought was a pretty cool blade for my crusader. When I equipped it, it looked rusted and beat down. And when I zoomed in, I think that was the intended effect. Maybe the items look a bit better as you level up, but it's still a downer when your character looks like a bum.
Quests: You can't kick a stone in either game without finding a quest. Hell, I was just running along in EQ2 last night, and without doing *anything*, I was offered a quest (turns out I picked up something without realizing it). But they are rather easier to find in WoW than in EQ2. Warcraft players have the advantage of seeing that big, bright yellow exclamation mark over quest givers heads. In many cases, you have to run around the city in EQ2 and talk to people to see if they need work. Some will shout what they need to you, but not many. In terms of quality... well, so far, the early game seems about even in quality. There's killing and delivery quests. But I will say that the hallmark quests are pretty cool. When you first arrive in your city, you get a book that gives you instructions to run all over the city and talk to people. It teaches you the geography, you meet people who have stuff for you to do, and gives you stuff to put in your house. But as thus far, no quests seems really *important*. Like, yes I'm helping people. But it's not the same as "Go bring me the head of the evil defias guy, and then deliver this highly important letter to the mayor of Goldshire!" In fantasy games, I think we all want to feel important. I'm assuming as you get higher level, the quests will become higher level as well. I do have a couple in my quest book in EQ2 that look cool, but are too high level for me. Speaking of quest book, EQ2 wins out there: 50 quests, to WoW's 20.
Gameplay: Since I haven't grouped yet in EQ2, I won't say anything about grouping combat. But solo, again they are about even. The only thing that bugs me about EQ2 is they don't have an actual number on experience points. All it has is a percentage until you reach the next level. While it is more realistic, it still annoys me after playing WoW and knowing *exactly* how many more guys I need to kill before I hit level 14.
Monsters: Early level, WoW wins *hands down*. C'mon, what's more fun? Killing kobolds and wolves in the forest as a level 1 guy, or being told to go hunt snakes and rats as a level 10 guy? Cause at level 11, I'm still killing snakes and rats. Oh yes, and mites. They're big, but it's not as interesting as hunting down rabid wolves and centaurs and such.
Classes/Races: EQ2 gets the win. They have far more races and classes than WoW. I started out as a fighter, and when I hit level 10, I was able to choose between being a warrior, a brawler and a crusader. You get just as many options with the other three starting classes. This means that beginning characters will feel similar, but as you advance up the food chain, your high level characters will be vastly different, even from the same starting class.
Overall Fun: EQ2 is fun. There's no doubt about that. The only problem is... I don't know anybody who plays it! ;_; That's part of the greatness of WoW... I'm in a guild and there's always people to chat to and have fun with.
Overall: Down to brass tacks: Big bad from WoW versus Big bad from EQ2. Meaning, Arthas the Lich King v. The Overlord. Meaning Freeport has a new God to bow down too. FATALITY. Seriously, the games are different. That may seem like a copout answer, but it's not. If I was asked which one do I enjoy more at the moment, the answer would be WoW no question. But to answer, which is the better game...? Now that would be difficult to answer.
So there you have it. Now all you WoW and EQ2 players get back to your games and shut the hell up.