Maybe games die so quickly because one expects new stuff to bring this fresh new nostalgic feeling of discovery and joy. And then its just the same old... So much hype for a new experience just to find out hey its the same shit in a different color
The only game that wasnt meh old BS in the past years were Albion and Archeage. Noot that they are great games but that they gave a different experience which felt fresh and new.
That sucks :/
I believe the opposite, that the devs believe adding new stuff will re-invigorate the game, when really just keeping things balanced, clean, and letting the world develop (at least on a sandbox level) would be enough. Does make you wonder if after some years there should be a w*pe, but in general, things should run well.
The players aren't completely free of blame, either, there are people who hate SV who want to make the game fail. Not that it's possible to do that thru game play (incase people believe that. It's like smoking crack and thinking you're punishing anyone but yourself,) but if the majority of players are doing that and not goal oriented things, it sucks.
MO2 is samey, sure. Also depleted/worse in a lot of ways, but there is just not a lot of energy. The desire for 'gains' has taken over... not raw gains like ore, but like trinkets, spells, etc. Regulating pvp also regulated energy. There wasn't a proper filler after that except, like I said, more traditional MMO gains. You could count on people getting mad and griefing each other all of the time in MO1. I don't think that's the IDEAL, but it worked.
The game has vets who are mad, vets who are worn out, and new players, all of whom don't seem to be providing the level of content there was in, say, early MO1 (to be fair I wasn't there at launch, but just from vids n history etc.)
I certainly didn't come in expecting something different. I expected a lil more polish, more people, and a more bustling world.
As I have said, I dunno the exact answer, but I don't feel the sandbox has been developed to its fullest/most proper extent. Whoever gets that right will be rich, and that will be the next enduring game, IMO. There is almost 0 reason to play any other MMO when compared to what a functional sandbox would be.
But na, as for me, I was here for the fresh start (rip at that first/second week haha,) and hopefully more polished product. It is more polished, no matter what anyone says... wayyyy more polished, but it's bare. I hope someone can develop a sandbox correctly, and I don't mind if it's SV.
In the same way sticking in MO-world requires staying power, I believe the development of MO requires staying power. The game needs to develop its niche again and get a core audience and retain them. SV has done so much wrong, that people are still here says something... pop means nothing to me. There just needs enough to drive the world.
New shiny things don't actually add to the world, I've always felt. They just create a customer base who is consistently fiending for new things. Then you get those things and what... quit cuz boredom.