I watched all that happen too and I concur with your analysis. Players have conflicting desires (1) a fun game which is made fun by being challenging, (2) winning that game. If they focus on (2) too much, they erode (1), and developers should be acting as their "willpower" to not erode (1). The fear that some will get frustrated and quit is IMHO not a fear MMORPG companies should never cave into. Imagine an MMORPG that has been running for 20 years because 10% of its secrets still haven't been uncovered. I'd still be playing that game. So who cares about the people who quit out of frustration.

Cheers mate.