[mwatt]

I too play a 56 Mage (from time to time). I think the reason you see less than expected is due to a number of things. Here are the things that I think are limiting Mages:

1. Some "nerfs" (classicaly appropriate) in the not too distant past, particularly the one where if pets do 50 or more of damage they take 50% of experience when solo. There are ways around this but it constrains your play style if you adopt them.

2. Difficulty of getting epic. High end content, until recently at least, has been pretty much locked down by one guild, making it difficult to get the very best thing a mage can get.

3. Much of Mage DPS is provided by pet, and yet pet control is not ideal in this time frame on P99 (i.e. in this era), which may at times limit desirability in dungeons and in raids. For example - and this goes for all pets - a pet has no qualms about attacking a mezzed mob.

4. You have a very sophisticated player-base here, on the whole, a bunch of EQ experts. I think it may be that many people feel that playing a Mage is a bit simplistic.