I've done a few MMOs at this point. Early release is always the hay-day. Inflation is inevitable. People crack the math. Strategies are developed. Secrets are unlocked and quests are solved. But in the beginning, it's a frontier. And everything is fun and new.
I had a guildmate describe Everquest as "friends and danger." Your character is weak. Your enemies are strong. Your path is unclear. Your consequences are dire. And if it weren't for your companions, you probably wouldn't succeed. EQ certainly provided that opportunity until inflation took it away.
Unfortunately, that game design has a serious flaw. Hell is other people. By making you rely on them for everything from leveling to banking, you create frustration, drama, and angst. Imagine trying to setup dominoes with strangers off the street. It still worked in EQ because there weren't any alternatives, so we stuck with it long enough to figure it out and make friends with the people. There's just not much market for a game like that anymore, and even if there were then there's no effective way to monetize it. That's why nothing new duplicates the experience, even though it could be done fairly effectively.
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