What the OP described reminds me a lot of a paradigm shift.
A paradigm is a viewpoint an entire community shares without questioning it.
A paradigm shift is a mayor change in this viewpoint.
An example of a paradigm shift is the change from a geocentric (sun revolves around earth) to heliocentric (earth revolves around sun) viewpoint.
A paradigm shift isn't a smooth shift, though, it's a crisis situation.
There are two camps (old versus new as the OP pointed out) who are trying to prove eachother wrong.
The sad part is that both camps have a different definition about what's right and what's wrong
Their opinions are completely irreconcilable.
This is what you are feeling right now.
The reason why the EQ to WoW shift felt the same is because it was the same, a paradigm shift.
The reason why nobody knows/cares about it is because our way of thinking completely changed when the paradigm shifted.
Everything fitted in the WoW paradigm, so people just adjusted their views to it.
This is why most people don't consider it as much of a change, but more as a logic next step.
I sincerely hope GW2 will get the chance to cause a paradigm shift in the MMO industry