Fulcrum, what you remember is a very short lived thing that was release in EQ called "Project M", where players could control a random npc in Norrath, and hope and pray that that NPC was in a zone where there were players. Then you could have some awesome fun. I remember good times being an "add" in guktop. Goodtimes, goodtimes.
This article has some small amount of information on the old Project M. It wasn't in very long, but it was some of the most fun I had in EQ.