I had the same problem of no play button and ridiculous download times on XP. What I did on 2 of my pcs..which worked for both...delete the station launcher from the EQ2 folder/ delete any previous short cuts(desktop, etc)repair the files using the RoK disk, start the game from the start menu(I use the short cuts that automatically pop up on my start menu-or create one during the repair) and BAM!!! good to go.(make sure ALL firewalls are off, internet security progarms, etc). My download time was 15minutes, but some of the files might have stuck from the 957 unsuccessful attempts of patching from yesterday. "New game" new launch pad
Hope this works for alot more people..just spreadin the love, man :P Good Luck and happy hunting.