I play on Champion and Infinity...30 characters total (full on both servers).
I liked Everquest, but it was still on the cartoony/fruity side for me. EQ2 was even worse.
One of the things I like about City of Heroes is that they have stayed true to the genre for the most part. A small but vocal minority of anime fans have been asking for cartoony costume options, and so far the DEVs have said no. They seem to be wantng to keep the feel of mainstream comics in the game, which is why I like it.
CoH is implementing a crafting system in the next update in a few months which should be really cool. The thing that makes it unique is that it comepletely removes the need to camp or farm any spawn. Something that plagues pretty much every other MMOG. The invention system will allow you to create custom enhancements which can be collected into sets, and will also allow you to contruct costume pieces not otherwise available.
I switch back and forth between CoH and EVE every few months. I like EVE because the backstory is detailed heavily political (Naturally I chose the
Caldari...the neocon race), and because it is real PvP. I like CoH for the shoot-em-up factor and ability to customize.