MMOs—particularly the long-lived ones—have a bit of a design problem. Given they're worlds built for all sorts of players, they need to have enough bite to challenge vets while also not scaring away the greenhorns. Which is fine, you can have hardcore raids: Except even the most skilled players aren't going to be spending their time there.
They'll be in the overworld, which—given it makes up most of the game—can't be too challenging. But if the overworld is boring, then people will… y'know, get bored. If I'm asleep at my keyboard for eight out of 10 hours, that's not exactly great design.
