Well you are wrong about that, because even though wow was advertised as casual friendly, in reality it was just somewhat less hardcore than everquest. And it ended up wildly successful through 2 1/2 expansions. The problem with the industry is nobody wants to take risk. Classic wow was developed through pure risk and it had the chance to bankrupt blizzard.
If nobodies creating inspired content with the sweat of uncertainty on their brow, how exactly can players expect to see the next iconic mmorpg that’s going to blow players socks off again. Or any game for that matter.