IMO the game needs to do 2 things.
1. Actually up it's difficulty curve on solo/leveling content to actually encourage the idea of improving as a player early on. Games in the past did this which contributed to there not being a visible skill level difference between casual and hardcore players and the difference between the 2 was little more than the amount of actual time they spend on the game.
2. Needs ilvl requirements on every non solo duty so that players get into the habit early of actually keeping their gear up to date or relevant for their content. Many of the DF horror stories are caused by players being horrifically undergeared for content in DF because they have not updated their gear in 10+ levels.