Keeping the game basic for new players?

[Magis]

While the original 40 man raids were alright.

I can't support calling anything where the primary mode of leveling is "solo following yellow ! marks" a MMO. The simple fact that you can reach end game without ever communicating with another human being in a MULTIPLAYER game is the problem with today's MMOs.

That is without (to use the Southpark reference) "staying in the forest killing boars" aka killing stuff MANY levels below yourself for TERRIBLE amounts of experience and taking MANY MANY times longer than actual group play.

While it was easier than previous MMOs, it has no comparison to what exists now. The world was much more open back then. Players would be constantly exploring, fighting, questing, and just traveling through Azeroth. Leveling took time (though not as much as FFXI), giving players ample time to learn their class as skills came in. Elite mobs and even other players brought danger to the world (for anyone who remembers those damn sneak T-Rexes in Un'goro). Later on though, flying mounts let players skip most battles, leveling has been so nerfed you can buy max level characters, and everything became instant teleport like FFXIV is (which is probably where they got the idea from).

While you technically could level to 60 without talking to anyone, you'd have a very difficult time completing elite quests which required a party of at least 2-3 people, and you'd miss out on dungeon gear and quests. There was no LFR or LFG system, so player interaction was a must. Also it was all on your own server, so people knew each other to an extent. If you were a ninja looter, your name would be black marked, spread on the realm forum.