Let me say it in this way: I played EQ2 with break from day one, as it is a good and complex game. For a big part of the content is never to be seen unless you play with monthly schedules and a great deal of coordination. After a longer break I lost most contacts I had, and I found, placing my level 69 pally into "LFG" and shouting for groups was a totally futile undertaking. Over weeks and weeks I practically spent 90% of the time shouting and waiting for a group (since soloism doesnt really pay off at this level at all.)

EQ2 has always been a game solely for those with a BIG social network inside the game. Outside these networks people are very rarely ever invited to group, and its that unfortunate mechanism which kept EQ2 in its niche.