It seems not so long ago I was jumping into Mara Central and going toe-to-toe with other devs at E3 2004. I had no idea this journey would take me to a whole different company, managing a major revision of the game, and my first producing gig. “Long, strange trip” doesn’t describe the half of it.
Now we’ve seen how far the rabbit hole goes and it’s time to wake up from that dream (or go back to sleep, depending how you look at it). On July 31, 2009, we will be jacking out for the last time. It’s a bittersweet moment for everyone involved with the game; as a player or as a developer.
Contest:
5:40 PM on 05.29.2009
| 
Sad face :(
This is a sad day indeed.
WOW has pretty much conquered this genre for good it seems
Of course, there can be fan-run servers, but then you're at the whims of people who might not really know what's best for the game, rather what they think is best.
That's the case with a lot of these doomed MMOS: they're actually pretty good later in their lifespan, because a) the game gets completed, like it should have been at launch, b) the server stress that typically causes the servers to explode regularly in the first few months goes away, and c) desperation forces the devs to work hard to make improvements.
Oh well, here's hoping they at least go the Tabula Rasa route, and end things with some kind of badass game-wide story event.