Here is my experience, sorry if its a little long:
I remember, a very long time ago when I started out playing everquest (before kunark), I looked up to lvl50 players who would visit the newbie hunting ground and help out newbies (anyone remember the noob tree log in nektulos forest? There were 30+ noobs there at any give time!). This gave me a motivation to one day become like them and come back to the place I started out and have the new noobs look up to me in the same way I had. It took me more than a year to get to 50, and when I did, I would take my lvl 50 to zones that were filled with real, untwinked newbies and just hang out there (east commons tunnel too!), buffing, giving away stuff and helping newbies. Me and my friends sometimes would even make quests for newbies to complete, giving them good rewards in the end! It felt God-like to be there, saving noobs from huge trains with a single spell! They would come to you, inspect your armor and praise you for how uber you are! It certainly made all the countless hours of raids and exp grind worth it for me.
But now, what the heck happened? I'm sorry to say this, but what kind of a game has more 70+ players than 1-10lvl players? Does anyone see this as plain wrong? And yet, sony has done very little to attract new players! Newbie zones are empty now! For me, the sense of accomplishment that comes showing-off (im not afraid to admit it, I loved showing off to noobs and I know many people feel the same so dont deny it! lol) and helping noobs is gone! I am sick of the same, repetative raids and exp grind over and over! Who freaking cares if you have epic 2.0 when every other character has one too?! I am nostalgic for the old days and I still havent lost hope that SOE will find ways to attract new players in the future! I am waiting for that day with great anticipation! Can anyone relate?