Ya this is a problem I'm seeing with all MMO's that get "older".
The design teams always loose sight of the fun of the gameplay and focus only on the data. They don't see any obvious problems with a design until they get the results of datamining.
The game then swings drastically from nerf to nerf until the game is just so unrecognizable to the original concept that the veteran playerbase is alienated and just gives up.
Then the game dumbs itself down even further to pander to the masses of spur of the moment gamers, that only tend to stick around for a month or two.
The heart of the game just dies and eventually the game just falls from the spotlight. Only really diehard loyalist players stick with it then and the game takes years to get back to anywhere near as interesting as it used to be.
Another thing, notice how the players are basically just Heroes now? Not SUPER Heroes like they used to be? Ever notice how only the Signature Heroes (and Signature Villains) are truely SUPER now?
