Various Battlefield games would like to have a word with this bullshit here. The conquest maps can facilitate 64 players in one map. They do this with cutting edge graphics while also selling more copies than WoW has ever managed to keep with subscriptions. The issue is not that WoW is trying to facilitate for the widest possible audience, it is that the engine is ancient, and they literally can't do any better without a complete overhaul.

Also please don't give me this crap that newer, better looking MMOs don't have large playerbases due to having better graphics? These games fail for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with demanding graphics. Not once have I read an MMO forum or reddit post claiming that someone quit due to the MMO having 'too demanding graphics'. You know what you do get though? Thousands of posts complaining about shitty game mechanics and even shittier company practises.