Depends. We had group quests back then that were segmented off from the solo questing style. So you had a mix of both. Biggest factor is it was server based, and if we were on PvP servers, and getting ganked, we could call in friends on our server to assist. That gave the server much more of the EQ community feel. Now? It's just blips on a screen no one cares about but might be happy they are there to kill a mob quicker.
I will always think, no matter what, the biggest mistake Blizzard has made is cross server populations just so you can see other players in the game. It just bogs things down and doesn't bring the effect of community what so ever. All it does it makes people think, "Sweet. People are still playing" 6 months after a .4.