The world feels too small.

[Maqaqa]

In those 10 years, the technology and game engines have gotten marginally better and the playerbase has increased to match.

And the number of servers increased to match the number of players.
Also... "marginally better"? Come on technology and game engines have gotten MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better during the last 10 years.
I used to play MMOs with a 56k, of course i lagged a lot, but i cant believe 10 years later with a cable connection im STILL lagging (or even worse people around me disappears = culling).
I dont see the number of players as an issue honestly its just more income for the devs.