After perusing the forums and checking out the development posts I think it has a lot of potential. They have completed the coding for A LOT more stuff than I would have guessed. I thought it was going to be like 1 city released every few months and was afraid the slow going pace would scare off the playerbase but they are moving quickly. Most skills are completely done already (agility for one isn't yet) and they are ticking off the minigames one by one. I think that people will stick with the xp rate of 1x and the grind because they did it the first time, why not again?
It will be slow going for sure, but being in a fresh new economy is going to be interesting and I believe pretty fun. I started thinking about mining and then realized I couldn't just go pick up a rune pickaxe, someone had to get the smithing to make it. That excited me, bartered goods, w2 trading, etc.....Not just for the nostalgia but just something to work towards that I enjoyed. Who knows, maybe it will fail and people will stop playing but the devs seem pretty rock solid in their work and in their confidence that they are legally safe.
All-in-all, I am hopeful. I know some people say "don't donate too much, don't hope too hard, don't expect greatness so you won't get let down" but sometimes you have to put your neck out there and be hopeful. Life would be boring if we didn't and if I get burned for putting so much confidence into this, then lesson learned, but until that happens, I will feel like part of something great and rewarding, and if it does end up being a massive success, all the better.