^ though, you also have to realize that the new players have a way lower attention spam than we did. When I started playing XI in 2002, there were very few MMO options out there.
Nowdays, there are tons of options and players will quickly move on if they are unsatisfied. Rift has tons more content than XIV and it's been losing tons of players. I would say more people now fit into the casual bracket than ever before simply because they will go play something else.