Also... (Score 1)

World of Warcraft has been in development for 4 years now. MMO's have always taken longer to develop than other genres, so I agree. Over time it will take less and less time. Neverwinter Nights is a good example of how a toolset can be used by your average Joe to make some compelling multiplayer RPGs. However, there is still the hurdle of maintaining server farms to keep your game alive. This is another unique attribute to the MMO industry that it doesn't share with other genres. It's quite costly. I don't see technology being forgiving enough to advance to a point where having server farms is cheaper to build and maintain, unless someone figures out a way to outsource it and support them.