EQ, WoW, CoX do provide a degree of 'invested time results in visible reward'. As cargoweasel observed of his nephew, a video game also gave a sense of control to an adolescent who was in a largely regimented life.

They've got progress bars, life doesn't. Watching all those movies for me, it was measurable, I had a box to finish.

There's a link in my LJ, from Foofers, about an intellectual capacity that was masked by television for 50 years. I've always thought of MMOs as being a successor to TV in the distraction capability. What was, or wasn't happening for you such that EQ made so much sense at the time? That'd be something to think on.