Don't want to add to the word wall, as it's a pain on the eyes, so I'll posit this as a new post.
For dealing with zones, I did find this piece of software called "EQ Model Viewer Zone Converter" from
here, but the .obj files it exports are broken, as are the .ms scripts. At least, as far as 3DS Max 2012 and Blender 2.49b are concerned.
Anybody able ta point me in the right direction?