I loved EQ2. I think the only reason I never got 100% into it was because I had so much time already invested in EQ1 and DAoC, so I didn't want to split it a 3rd way (even though I re-upped my subscription several times.) I don't think I ever made it past level 30 because I kept getting distracted by the storyline, tradeskilling, just plain adventuring through the world with it's awesome graphics! EQ2 was most certainly my cup of tea, the stars just didn't align to kick me from my other addictions (eq1, daoc, and the all important BEER!)
I've checked in on the EQ2 Emu website every few months and always saw that they were doing what EQ1 Emu was doing when they started, they kept updating to the live client, never locking in a permenant client for use. I shudder remembering those days, the couple weeks it would take to get the code updated, then the two weeks of playtime you actually got before the NEXT patch. I breezed through the EQ2Emu site the other day and saw they were locking in on a certain client soon or something, so if this is true I definitely see a good future for the project
