to those who played EQFollow

How much of an advantage will those who have played EQ1 have over those who are new to EQ2. I hope that this gap is not too big to frighten people away creating a leetist game

Yeah i do agree with you, and knowing our gamers, most of the EQ2 players would be veteran EQ1 players.
Guess EQ1 players wouldn't have much advantages(don't quote me on this) , as much as i've read the websites and all, the gameplay is different and not many things from EQ1 is incorporated in it?
but yeah, it's one of my primary concerns as well..

p/s: sorry guys, haven't played EQ in a while...most probably out of touch as well =)

Lore knowledge as stated above, is really the only thing EQ1 players will bring with them. I don't see it as an advantage at all, but might help a little. EQ2 is very much a different game, and has very little in common at all With EQ1.

Well I never played EQLive and I don't think that it hurt me too much. Yes, there are cicumstances such as the first time I entered BB, I had no idea it was a gnoll dungeon, but gameplay wise, it might actually be easier for those of us with out EQL experience in that we're coming into the game with no ideas as to how things "should" be.

Only heritage item I saw were the dwarven work boots, and I was too busy trying to get the 3rd part of my armor quest to try another long quest at the end of beta :D

I played the beta. Having played EQ1 it was most fun knowing some of the lore, and seeing how it has changed. There are alot of familiar names around in qeynos, e.g Holly Windstalker, Fippy etc. and it was fun finding out more, but EQ2 is fairly different from EQ1. If you have played any other multiplayer game then there is no particular advantage IMO

Vetern EQ1 players won't have any huge advantages in EQ2 over people who have never played EQ1. The biggest advantage you'll have in playing EQ1 is having a better learning curve with the interface.

It should be noted here that most EQ1 players should take the time to remap the keyboard settings when they first start playing, it'll save you alot of grief. For example, in EQ1 the D key had you duck/crouch while in EQ2, the C key is the default for that. And in EQ1, the Backspace key brought up the map while in EQ2, the Backspace key will have you replying to tells. If you go into the options and take the time to remap the keys to what you're used to in EQ1, you'll help your learning curve considerably.

Aside from that, there's no overwheming advantages EQ1 veterns will have in EQ2 over true newbs to Norrath. Knowing the History, Lore, and Locations of Norrath will help a little and you'll understand alot of the side jokes (like the Gnome named Gornit in Brumbleshire), but it won't do much else otherwise. The world has literally been ripped apart by The Rendering (a series of massive earthquakes that fragmented Antonica into several smaller continents) and The Shattering (the recent explosion of Luclin that sent pieces of it crashing towards Norrath, doing even more damage to the world). Don't expect to find places where they once were in EQ1.