I don’t think interactivity = punishing challenge. For example,
Random BGs are casual, not that challenging, interactive and are able to hold a decent audience despite minimal rewards if any since the removal of PvP vendors despite having the same exact content for 6 years now.
This is unusual to me. Usually those arguing for world content being relevant don’t also want to keep said world content the same tunnel-vision style it is now and want to return to earlier eras of mob design. Especially since you were arguing for classic’s hype earlier where you did need to choose which spells to interrupt, you did need to soothe/dispel enraged/buffed mobs, etc. You can’t really have both. You can’t up the rewards and try to get people to play the content while also keeping it for the lack of better words “brain-dead”.
Edit: I would also like to note that in blizzards old earning reports it was also said that engaging and innovative content was the key to success among players. So no, the game isn’t supposed to be a time-sink inherently. Like all classic games, it’s supposed to be a time-sink because it’s engaging and keeps you in the game. Too bad they forgot about that along the way and now it’s too embarrassing to even put on their earning reports for 2019.
Also It’s not really singleplayer vs multiplayer like implied in the quote. Every other genre in the market in general is focusing on player engagement which is in large part why MMOs look like crap on the outside to spectators. To them, You have these 5 genres trying to make sure your immersed and having fun at all times and this one genre that is trying to squeeze time out of you for arbitrary tedious content. The choice isn’t difficult there. That goes back to my prior statement that MMOs are going to continue to decline and developers are going to become more desperate and make more profit-based design choices.
As whole players now don’t need to be distracted in modern gaming, especially PC gaming. Mobile Games have largely filled this niche of “time sinks” in the industry that are just tunnel-vision time wasters. I mean a huge successful one right now I guarantee most people have seen an ad for is literally called “AFK Arena”. There’s not really a huge market in the new age of gaming on the PC. Why would I spend 15 bucks a month and 60+ upfront on a time sink when I can download one on my phone free and play whenever and wherever I want.
The only reason WoW gets away with it is IP and Brand legacy and I say get away with it lightly because there player-base count pre-hide doesn’t exactly show they “got away” with it. WoW Re-releases in current or even legion state under a new name, company and IP and it’s DoA. Easily.
Then not wasting budget on world content rewards is actually the right call if that’s your argument. If it’s not important enough to fix, it’s not important enough to band-aid is generally a good rule of thumb.