I would suspect that as the population of gamers increases, then the relative population of those that enjoy "risk -vs- reward" will increase to the point where it is a profitable market. I think we were there with SB, however the game mechanics burned it out (who wants to be up 24/7 defending a virtual castle widget?). There is a game balance where you don't have to log in 24/7 yet want to log in a lot.
I think UO screwed the pooch with the town muffins and crap in factions. Hold the damn thing for 24 hrs? Hell, we all have lives. Only Arch could do it (due to lots of free time in Med School, thats slack ya know).
UO was a great game, and it didn't have 3D, 4D or 5D graphics. The music was turned off, the graphics did not have phong shading and real life texture maps.
I've worked in the game industry for a long long long time, and did several series of lectures on game production with the trade groups. I always stated that the sound should be turned off, the graphics need to be turned into blocks, then play it as it is developed. See if it is fun, because then you are playing the game, not the art or the sound.
