Hello,
I've been playing MMos for a while now, I started playing EQ on the first day the retail version came out...I've been a big fan of EQ and still am because there is no game out there that is more complete than EQ, and that's why it is still one of the most played games out there and is still there competing with the big guys...I am currently playing WoW, RYL, EQ, EQ2, Horizons....I also played some DAoC...
I know you only wanted to know about WoW and DAoC but I will try to give my opinion on the different games...
EQ: Great game, very complete, always updating, vaste world, unlimited quests and adventures, very complexe, very versatile, lots of personalisation of your character, very hard game to level up if you're not a power gamer, graphics not that great...
WoW: Beautiful game visually, gameplay is fun but not for very long, not enough depth, very basic game, but it is still in it's beginning, characters aren't very versatile, not enough classes, not enough skills or spells, can't really personnalize your character, characters at same levels are almost all the same, the only difference is if the player is good or not, gets repetitive, quests are all the same, either go kill a number of mobs, or deliver a message or item or farm for an item...high end bosses are hard, but it's not necessarly a god thing because high guilds keep doing the same raids week after week...there isn't much to do...I know I said a lot of bad things about this game but I think it has a lot of potential, it can be a great game, right now it is too easy and too short but when new expansions come out and blizz decides to work a little bit on giving more deth to characters then it could be a number 1 MMO
EQ2: Disappointing compared to the first one, great ideas are in the game, very new, versatile, visually beautiful, I would say that this game is for power gamers, it's not for anyone who wants to start his new MMO experience...The world is big and servers aren't always full so there aren't a lot of players, sometimes gets lonely...Gameplay is extremely amusing, versatile to a certain extent...This game needs some patching, I would say in 2 expansions this game will be the best MMO for power gamers...
RYL: Don't have much to say about this game, I play it only from time to time, it's too easy, not enough quests, not enough anything, it's a hack & Slash MMO...Not recommended if you don't like a hack & Slash game
Horizons: Well horizons is dead hehe no players, servers will have aroun 10 to 50 players sometimes :)
DAoC: Very versatile, complexe game, more realistic than the other games, engaging, characters are very interesting, deep...
For your question I would say, if your favourite SNES game is Zelda (very amusing and easy game) then go with WoW...If it's Final fantasy 3 US (complexe, fun and complete) then go with DAoC...Both games are fun to play...it depends on what you're looking for :)