Hunts are going to cost them so many subscribers that they'll have to do something eventually. I've been playing MMOs for 15 years. In any MMO I've ever played, if they make gearing up easy and dull, people quit. These games are all about chasing the carrot at the end of the stick. You can't give the whole playerbase a barrel full of carrots and expect them to still care.

When everyone and their grandmother is 110, the population will take a dive. That's when the real patch notes will come out, but by then it'll be too late.