Why is "It's something to do" apparently a valid defense?

[Reynhart]

But they were fun to do and that was only a short list. I just want something different..
I will say gold saucer was one thing that was added to the game that is different though...

They also came with later expansions.
In fact, even Dynamis wasn't implemented until the end of Zilart.
HW offers Diadem, which is exactly a "modern MMO" Dynamis, in its 1st major patch, and Lors Of Verminion.

And before CoP, you had basically no dungeons and no raids.