I started EQ in beta (around Jan 1999) and played religiously up til just after Gates of Discord (early 2004) and haven't been back since. When I left my level 65 bard was barely PoStorms keyed but had my Epic 1.0 and good gear. I was also an amazing bard (which was partially due to mastering such a difficult class and partially due to other players being satisfied with bards just being mana batteries). It was rare to get into a PUG and have no one comment "I didn't know bards could do that".

Recently I got a bit nostalgic for the game (and bought a lifetime Daybreak membership back during Christmas) so I DL'd it then just left it for a while. The idea of going back to keyboard, mouse and carpal tunnel that was requisite for an EQ bard was a bit daunting after years of playing games with console controllers and not having my wrists feeling like someone was holding an active Bic lighter beneath them. Then I stumbled upon XPadder.

I'm still working on refining the controls (the camera up/down pans are too sensitive and sometimes cause the guild creation window and my Friends list to pop up) but playing a bard has never been easier (especially with the /Melody command and hotkey).

While the controls still need some work it's been good enough for me to fear-kite in PoNightmare with little problem. Once I get the controls more smoothed out I'll make a stab at charm-kiting (maybe not in PoNightmare though, you can't see all that far because it's perpetual night).

The exp has been smoothed out considerably and they have "hot zones" for an insane exp boost. I haven't checked out a hot zone yet but light blues at the PoNightmare entrance are giving me 23%-24% AA per kill (exp set to 100% AA, will check out regular exp the next time I log in). So every 4-5 kills is an AA point which puts me at being able to crank out multiple points each hour (barring over-pulls or RL distractions).

The game now has mercenaries. These are NPC's you can hire (Tank, Healer, melee DPS and caster DPS) and level up (for greater effectiveness). I see many players with them but have yet to test them out. From what I have been told the AI on them is pretty good so that they act more as a group member than an NPC pet (they also divide exp as if they are a player character).

PoKnowledge now freezes timers on beneficial spells (but not songs) so it's not uncommon to see lots of characters AFK there.

The Bazaar has changed significantly, it's more a hub for tradeskills now. The /bazaar command brings up the bazaar menu anywhere in the game (at least for members). Items are delivered to your mailbox for a small fee (mail/parcel delivery NPCs can be found at the bank in PoK) or directly to your inventory for Station Cash. The decade plus of expansions and level increases has allowed for some really good gear increases at prices that don't break the bank.

There are now mounts in the game (haven't tinkered with them yet either but they look pretty cool). You can also purchase an immediate level boost for your character to 85 (also gives you a ton of completed AA's and level-appropriate gear). I'm enjoying grinding the AA's since they come so fast now, I may do a level increase later or I may do it the old-fashioned way (haven't really decided yet).

Along with hot zones (an NPC in PoK will tell you which ones they are) there is a daily quest (based on a level range you choose, you only get exp within 15 levels of your own level) as well as tons of others (I've only scratched the surface on that).

The game still has a large enough population that they have 8 different Progression servers, 12 regular servers, 1 PVP, 1 Roleplay, 1 "free trade" server (where loot is not attuned) and 1 European server all up and running. PoP is very old content (released late 2002) but I still run into people from time to time when going from PoK to PoNightmare.

TL;DR - the game is still fun, possibly more so now as the better gear and level smoothing has made the grind feel less grindy because I can actually accomplish something solo (ie: getting an AA) within 15-20 minutes of hunting easy kills as opposed to taking hours even with a group against level-appropriate monsters.