It's diverging so far from what an MMO is and should be. If I wanted to play FF7 I would... but I don't that sort of game doesn't excite me.

The biggest indication of this drift from MMO is how sparse the overworld is now. You don't even have to plan out a route to dodge stuff. Kill 10 rats has been replaced with find these 4 NPCs with 1 a little bit hidden.