They won't because vertical progression games tend to be the most profitable and most successful MMOs. This game's population is larger than FFXI's (which I don't believe ever topped 1 million players even at its peak). Whether folks like it or not, WoW showed that there was a market for heavily vertical progression in MMOs, and until someone comes up with a model that is more successful than WoW's was, vertical progression is going to be the standard.