EQ 2's expansions don't always cater just to high-end players, for what it's worth. There was an expansion which added Fae (the good race) and introduced new zones for every level from 1-60 or 1-70, whatever the cap was at the time. The expansion that added the Sarnak (the evil race) added a great big zone that goes from levels 1-20 and still has the best loot in the game for newbies. A number of mid-level zones have been redone to make them solo- and small-group friendly (Lavastorm and Everfrost, for instance). As the developers themselves have said on the official forums (no, I don't have links), since the majority of the playerbase is at level cap, it makes more sense for them to add new content there.

I'd also say that on Antonia Bayle, at least, the low-level zones are plenty populated. Especially considering that the game is five years old, there are more than enough people running around in Commonlands and Antonia to keep the game from feeling empty.

I agree, though, that there doesn't seem like a whole lot will be put into this expansion to win back lapsed players. And unlike the last expansion, it looks like you have to buy the collector's edition of the boxed version to get a free mount (previously, you'd get it with any boxed version). Folks have been screaming for years about digital downloads getting less stuff for these expansions, so it's just business as usual for this game.