Not sure WoW represents a feather in anyone's cap - the kill, loot, rinse, repeat aspect of the gameplay is far from revolutionary and for many quite tedious and boring. Having once been on the WoWcrack for years I am pleased to say I have been WoWcrack free for over 3 years.
Your experience with WoW, doesn't change facts. It's still the most successful MMORPG ever created. It's also the "benchmark" for MMORPGs. Look at Rift, SWTOR....both claimed to be "WoW killers" and never even got 50% of the subscriptions. It's hard not to call that an achievement.
The "kill, loot, rinse, repeat aspect" is common in gaming. It's been a part of gaming for decades now. Nearly every game does it in one form or another.
Not sure I'd call Blizzard a "sinking ship" as everlast66 does.... They're currently in the process of trying to turn WoW into an MMO-RTS-RPG, which if successfully executed might be a first in PC gaming. Might even breath new life into a dieing title....