RPGWO worlds have been getting better and better with more features, things to do, etc. The only difference is that enough people played back then that you could pick any build, rely on others, and provide use to someone.
I would not say that is entirely true. Sure, some admins and I include yourself in that list have done an excellent job at creating worlds that are both enjoyable and the level of difficulty is at a point where most goals aren't too hard to accomplish over time but it is not so easy that you have level 20+ or 30+ within the first few days.
Part of the blame towards the deterioration of the community falls upon the admins who have spoiled their players with easy, poorly done worlds which are usually also a repeat of so many servers before them. If I were to count using my fingers the number of worlds that died out simply because of a lack of players despite the amount of effort, new/unique content and pretty much love and care that was put towards them I would need more than two hands to do so. It is a sad state of affairs when there are more players on a server where the admin(s) is/are so incompetent that they can't even figure out how to correctly change the ore rarity instead of one where the admin actually knows what they are doing and adds interesting content on a regular basis.
Another part of the blame falls on Mickey for allowing these people to put their servers on the list in the first place. As an example, there was always this scenario that seemed to occur quite often and of course still does. The scenario I am referring to is when a server on the list has ran the course of its lifetime and another player finally decides they would like to take the time to get a new one going. Let's call this player, Player A. Player A posts on the forum that they are going to create a server, explains what type, details some of the features, etc. and asks for input regarding what should be included. Player A completes the server and puts it on the list. One week later Player B comes along, sends an e-mail to Mickey, doesn't post on the forum (or facebook) and voila they have a garbage can server on the list ready to steal players away from the good one.
Maybe this would have been fine when we actually had players 10 or so years ago but the fact that this has continued all the way up to 2015 with the 10-20 remaining players is just ridiculous. I understand everyone has different ideals for they want to see in a server but sometimes they don't even give a server a chance before completely blowing it off.
Another factor I have noticed that only perpetuates the current "lack of players" situation we are stuck in is that most players tend to log in to a server and if they see that nobody or only very few players are on, they immediately dismiss the server as dead and it's likely you won't see them on it again. How many players do you think a server has lost because of this one?
Why is it a single player would need to be able to train all skills? Just because there are no other players on doesn't mean one person needs to be able to wield every weapon, use every magic and craft every item. I thoroughly don't understand this mentality.
Again, players have been spoiled by easy worlds that allow for all of this. Some might think, "Well I don't want to play a world where I am grinding all day, this game isn't THAT fun." To them I say, why play at all then if you want everything to be easy for you? That is not fun to me.