So...basically you guys want to play Final Fantasy 11 with a 14 re-skin?

Seriously, players less and less want "hardcore" mechanics like punishment upon death, and tedious overworld travel through dangerous areas.

"Hardcore" MMO's in the past years have been huge flops and the money is clear, players don't want them anymore. SE would not spend this time, almost re-designing everything in a game and dedicating it to it's own server, just so a small majority can enjoy it.

They have a history of removing difficult, tedious content from the game. See: Steps of Faith, Bees from original Amdapor, the fact that Savage difficulty is being reduced in the new raid (because not enough people were playing it).