OK, tried something different - I blew away my old EQ client directory and copied over my current "real" eq client directory. Modified the eqlsclient and eqhosts file as appropriate.
Now, when I log in, while I still can't zone in after creating a character, I get a different output on the world and zone windows. I've put the output in this thread as it seems to relate to what we're talking about (in the General Support forum):
http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17835