I think I can classify myself as a long term player in WoW. I have been subbed since release and been raiding/pvp'ing alot throughout the expansions. 

When SWTOR came out I initially subscribed to both games. All my guild jumped to SWTOR and I thus felt I had to try it again even though the beta was a bit mediocre in my opinion. 

Now it seems, after having played both games, that the model has become very outdated. As if the themepark ride, no matter what amount of storyline you smack on top of the actual gameplay, is just unsatisfyingly dull. The continous gear grind and repetitive gameplay only seems endurable when there is a strong community around it. 

I always imagined that MMO's would be the future of gaming. The unlimited potential to create massive worlds with thousands of players that would only expand as technology advanced. Now though, it seems it is not the technology that limits its potential but rather lack of innovative ideas. I have played a number of other MMO's (most shortly) ranging from Darkfall to LOTRO. While I like the ideas in some of them these just lack the funding to make them great games.

It would be nice to see WoW make some more drastic turns for the future. Now that they have  newer games competing with them on their own model it might be time to take some chances. Do something out of the ordinary to see what effect it might have on players. The Blizzard devs are talented and idea-rich i'm sure and does not have the same funding limits as you see with smaller companies.

I fear a continous decline in WoW, as more alternatives are released and the existing are perfected, if they do try some new ideas. It might even benefit their upcoming Titan as I hope this will not be a WoW with updated graphics. That road is simply not going to work any more if you are to become more of a success than what you see with SWTOR in my opinion.

I do agree with what you're saying and your frustration, though I can't see WoW declining or at least anytime soon.  The thing is recent games that have come close to competing with WoW like Rift and SWTOR are in fact following the 'WoW Method'.    These games have their graphic boosts and their additional gimics, but in the end its no more different to WoW.  So I don't believe any future games like GW2, Tera, etc will be dynamic enough to make people turn away from WoW.  To be honest I think for MMO's to become the true future of gaming they need to take a 'U-turn' and focus back on the Sandbox Genre.  But the main MMO playerbase these days don't really want a roleplay enviroment, adverturing, exploration, or slower leveling/grinding like the old UO/EQ days.  A lot want an easier ride each time and I think World of Warcraft 'Cataclysm' is the final result of what the common player wants.  Sure they'll complain it's getting too easy, but make it slightly more challenging and they'll complain.  Kind of a -can't win- scenario!  I believe it is the players that have wrecked the MMO genre, not the developers / lack of ideas.  Of course, this is all just my opinion and experience since I have been playing MMO's since '98 and watching this genre which I still love evolve/devolve. 

I am not sure what to expect from an MMO. I don't know if I want a sandbox game. I played UO for about a month or so and I got bored. At first I was quite hooked by the prospect of  the "endless possibilities" but after a month I saw all the limitations and I realised that the game wasn't actually fun to play so I quit.

I played WoW for god knows how long. I don't think that there is anything Blizzard can do to make the game fresh for me. I have spent thousands of hours playing that game and I still consider it one of the best MMOs of all times. It's the MMO that the vast majority of MMO players have played and enjoyed for a fairly long period of time. It's hilarious and pathetic to see people who have played the game for 4-7 years hate on the game as there is no tomorrow.

I don't think the problem is that MMOs have adopted what many call the themepark approach. My problem is that Blizzard hasn't released a new MMO. All those WoW copies are just annoying and are not as fun as the original. This was also the case with Diablo 2. There were so many Diablo clones but they were all crap. That's why I am still patiently waiting for D3 to get my hack and slash fix.

For me it is WoW which made me love MMOs but it was the only MMO which I have really enjoyed. So I have arrived at the conclusion that I love WoW but not MMOs in general.