I've played since the day WoW released. Though I did take about a year or so off in the middle years.
I have about 57 days total playing time across all my toons. With my main Pally the highest with 35 days.
I play casually, mostly solo…explore, quest, craft, play the AH. I've never Raided, and only been in the "old world" Instances thus far.
I compete against myself and enjoy what ever activity that allows me to better my existing gear or add to my horde of gold
I enjoy the setting and the lore and atmosphere of the game and now have a nice routine down to where I play at my own pace and schedule.
I also dabble with LOTRO and EQ2 Extended…
Though I am waiting for "my" perfect MMO…one where it's a more dark, gritty fantasy world. I'd enjoy AoC more if it used a similar character control scheme (UI) to WoW or LOTRO…don't like having to time all the follow-up combos, spend too much time watching the keys rather than the action on the screen. But maybe that's just me and my poor typing skills lol
Still holding out hope that Blizz will usher in a new mmo franchise that is more along the lines of the Diablo world (Sanctuary) in tone than WoW's Azeroth
Time will tell…
Excited for Cataclysm, it's a whole new world baby!
(btw - looking forward to trying "Rifts" out, beta soon!)