This game jumped the shark pretty much right around when WotLK was released. Now, like most things that experience this sad phenomenon, it's trying new things to retain worn out players. Rosanne won the lottery, Miami Vice had aliens from outer space, Family Matters had "Stefan", and in the end it all just looks like a lame wounded animal braying it's death cries as it dies a slow and agonizing demise.
That's what this is; an aged animal dying a slow ugly noisy agonizing death.
It's time to move on. Players should consider letting go and trying something new. I realize that there's poor substitutes, but that's not what I'm suggesting. Rather I think that in order for there to be growth and innovation there needs to be change, and that can only really come when they accept that this game is more habit than fun, that it's an exercise in habit and tedium, and we will never have those moments like we did when it was vanilla or TBC until people finally accept this has to die so new games can rise.
As long as it's profitable, I don't see this happening. This is business, and profitable stagnation is better than risky innovation, at least to the folks making money.
