Why don't they just not hand out better items in the first five minutes? What's good gear at the level cap is still good gear 2 levels beyond that. I understand that expansion buyers want to see a return on their investment immediately, but that's just silly.

As for obsolete areas...I don't think there's anything that can be done about that, unless the devs are willing to make major changes. The issue is the linear motion that modern MMOs offer. Back in the early days of UO, there were no quests, so there was no one leading you around from place to place. Now that quests are designed like a sightseeing tram, there's little reason to go back.

The issue is that they can't alter starting areas because of the egalitarian stance that all players must have the same experience. Plus, if newbie areas are re-designed to attract higher level players to come back, those newbie areas are no longer newbie areas. New areas need to be created, and low level players won't be able to visit those areas until much later in the game. It screws everyone up.