Lets be frank, most new players go where the action/attention is. And a percentage of senior players cannot operate without a crowd. You never see them roleplaying alone, or to the voices in their head.
Few people cling or attach themselves to areas especially those that are Out of Date to be precise.
Look at Outland, how many people would you likely see hanging out there? Do they still choose to live there or have they moved on to better and more prettier places?
Some places are cannon only for a specific time period. Look at WOD,since everything there would have been in the past and no-one lives there unless they live in a time loop.
Teldrassil burned, and darkshore is phased. Dalaran floating over Crystalsong was important during the Nexus War and against the Lich King. But now?
Now those areas would likely be forgotten.
Only an RP event using the skills of a mage to time travel in a sense would work. (Or through memories in a sort of dream travel.)
The world is empty because like an event, some areas serve for a quest but once completed the action of the story remains making the area useless.
A good example is Mount Hyjal. Besides the Treeâs valley itself, how many players would casually desire to stroll if the fighting remains in the Verdant Thicket. That is where the fire elementals and twilight cultists are continually fighting.
If blizzard were to make all areas have a phase situation where once the quests are completed the area becomes vacant, rebuilt, or restored then you could see more RP action. Alot more freedom for players to live and relate to certain places.
Only addons that have sucessfully integrated this concept in some of its story is Pandaria and Warlords for the most part.
Remember what Suramar city looked like before the demons appeared on the outskirts, when the shield initially just came down. There were people relaxing, playing hacky sac toss, or strolling the sidewalks, but now its a battlefield.
Demon Glyphs on the ground, Fel Crystals floating and the kirin tor/Kaldorei/Sinâdorei fighting the nightborne.
Even the Waining Cresent has nightborne circling waiting in line for arcwine or disturbed by the events. Now you have demons patrolling the streets.
Look at the Shadowlands.
What would the Temple of Purity look like in bastion once the Forsworn are defeated and the area is repurposed?
What would the Temple of Courage look like if the Maldraxxi left and the Kyrian were rebuilding?
What would Tirna Rowen, and Heartwood Grove look like if Ardenweald was recovering?
There are so few areas to RP in peace in some content. The only way to enjoy some RP is when events occur otherwise it feels out of place with new content.
Dalaran is destroyed so unless you are in a time-loop, you canât RP there anymore.