Differences? Well I made the jump from FFXI to EQ2. Left behind a 67 brd, 63 whm on Bahamut and a 7x [I forget exactly] rng & 63+ smn on Ragnorak. Yes, unlocked all jobs, Fenrir.. blah blah. You've been there, you know what I went through.
Content
FFXI had a big story. And a lot of smaller ones. If you wanted to, you could follow the stories and they were tied in with access to certain areas. Not to mention rank and other privileges. EQ2 has a few... well I guess we'll just have to write your own. No Zilart here sorry. Yes folks, NO cutesy-wutesy cutscenes, or rousing pre-BC monologues. Bah. Maybe later. Hopefully. Right now, EQ2 is 'sparse' in this regard.
Quests... EQ2 has the most quests I've ever seen in a game. Purely for FUN, I levelled a shaman to 18 almost solely on quests and writs [not counting repeatables, over 200+]. There's almost as many [but you'll spend a LOT more time on the 20+ level quests] after that. Yes... there's grind too [some quests require you to harvest a rare.. that's like trying to make an Earth Staff... +2!] *btw, think about it... questing for fun...
*sniff* I miss my tarutaru. *WAAAAHHHHHH!!!* Sorry but gnomes just do NOT cut it. Plus the 'cats' here just don't have the right 'tail'.
Graphics
FFXI's graphics has superior art direction [matter of taste really, kinda like WoW] IMHO but EQ2's is markedly better. There's really no doubt, EQ2 has 'technically' the best among MMORPGs and most games frankly. It would not feel out of place in a fantasy FPS. Like the sticker price of the video card(s) you need to play EQ2 in full glory, it has to be seen to be believed. I fully recommend an ATI Radeon 850XT or nVidia 6800 GT or better. Still the settings are VERY customisable and I can play just fine with a Radeon Mobile 9600. I even use Extreme Quality settings on a 5900 [ok, with graphics set to .8 and textures set to medium for the most part]. EQ2 & WoW? It's like Blizzard took a look at FFXI and decided to program for the Cartoon Network while SOE wanted to make you smell the Griffon **** whenever you took a ride on one. Peeuuuu!
Music/Sound
FFXI's music has more feeling and emotion. Hey it's FF after all and it's all good. EQ2 is kinda John Williams. Like the graphics, it's a matter of taste. But FFXI's music had you crying, laughing or just getting excited. Best music I could find in EQ2 is the theme for the Commonlands [Heh! Told you tastes very, and yes a lot of people hate the music here] and RunnyEye [very fun!]
EQ2 has much better sound effects. Both in 3D and simple ambience.
But you know what? Lineage 2's music sounded better, or at least you might want to play the music outside of the game. EQ2's music somehow fits the game better but FFXI fits the STORY better...
All is not lost, you CAN replace EQ2's music with L2s :)
And let's not forget Voiceovers... now playing WoW with it's text spouting NPCs is sooo... Windows 95! I know this must cost SOE a bundle but I hope they don't stop doing it. It may not seem as dramatic but I think making every NPC actually have sound is like going from UO to EQ [2d to 3d environment]
Gameplay
Grouping. EQ2 has the best implementation I've come across for a long time. Now if only they made looking for LFG/LFP as easy as it is in FFXI..no wait. It is. first time in EQ2? Do the MMORPG cliche and play a 'priest' [Healer = whm :)]
Many in EQ2 will tell you that EQ2's 'skill chains' aka HOs [who thought up the name 'HO' should be SHOT! TWICE!] are easier. They are wrong. It's not just EASY, it's PUNY. FFXI players will have no problem adapting to HOs. It's like SOE took the FFXI system and swung the easy brush far and wide till everything dripped Micro$oft. Say goodbye to the splittiming of skills and spells, say goodbye to the broken SCs, angry teammates... and well the challenge too.
Crafting. So it's LONGER to do but easier. Basically each crafting event is like an encounter. It can get to be a grind at the later levels but it's actually fun [especially if you just came from busting crytals and stuff trying to force an Earth Staff +1] Crafting really can replace adventuring :) *Just don't be rude if you get offers to group/party while crafting, ESPECIALLY if the offer comes fron an illusionist.
Interface
Just like the one in EQ1 but a bit better. That is to say it's lightyears ahead of FFXI. You can have multiple chat windows [and not just a single 8 line window] with filters and multiple channels assigned to different windows. It's better than mIRC and that's just the chat windows. They even let you write up your own interface and provide a toolkit to do so.
Oh and you only need to click once, type in your password and you'll get to the character select screen... if only POL was that easy.
Similarities
None really. I find more similiarities in gameplay. The grind aspect is partially there, especially at the higher levels. The most striking thing is the challenge or lack of it. Nothing's really difficult in EQ2. Get a group, practice a bit and you can do anything.
Sorry in advance for the long, off-topic post. Just had some time to kill and my paws were itchy.
*yawn* Times's up. You can look me up in AB