I agree, what a lot perceive as a weakness is simply a difference, a point that makes it stand out and draws those interested in that, of course you'll draw people who could care less about that, but it's for them to decide if it's a deal breaker or not.
So many MMO's didn't look past "WoW is popular I'll be like WoW" but then when people asked. "But what sets you apart?" They had no answer, that's the nice thing about there being mutiple choices of what we play, one game dosen't have to appeal to everyone or try and do everything.
It's totally fine to feel that a story focus doesn't belong in an MMO, there are MMO's for those who feel that, and 14 for those that do.