That's a good point, Lone...
I actually met my wife in EQ1.
I was surprised to find there are actually attractive women gaming.
At the same time, we both let EQ1 become the main priority in our lives and when we got together we agreed to keep things in perspective, never play without the other, and never to join a raiding guild.
In doing so, we've progressed quite slowly, but we haven't reached the point many of our friends and guildmates have in rushing to 50 and suddenly being bored.
We are former hardcore players who are grateful for the more casual experience EQ2 offers.
But the fact remains that most people who play don't have the luxury of sitting right next to the person they are best friends with and who have the single shared goal of time well spent doing fun things together.
There have been a lot of great points brought up in this thread. I anticipate a lot of the prodigal guildmates will return to play around with Splitpaw, and even more will come back to investigate the expansion.
I believe the game is sustainable as it sits...The only major threat I see to the game in the near term is the combat redesign. If they pull it off, EQ2 will be a better game than it is now. If they mess it up, it will disgruntle a lot of people. Think Star Wars Galaxies...
I just watched the Desert of Flames movie on the SoE site, and thought that it looked very interesting.
I agree with Lange's point on automated guild creation and also on the option for a guild merger function.
EQ1 had a way of making even quiet people socialize to some degree. Largely, perhaps, because there were so many targets of opportunity that simply could not be soloed. Loot and quest updates make strange bedfellows.
I would personally like to see content that rewards collaboration to a greater degree.
I know that content and gear itemization will expand with time. Rome wasn't built in a day.