I dunno, it seems fairly similar to any other mmos as far as complexity/simplicity. Not really sure what you mean by modern mmo's "overcomplicating" things since none of the ones i've played have seemed that way.
I guess i'm thinking more of character development and advancement. I miss the days where you essentially leveled up, which opened new spells, and you fought for opportunities for better gear.
Now, it's you get X currency from Dungeon X,Y,Z, to buy a mat, that you combine with 4 other pieces, but then you have to get sockets/augments, that only drop from these dungeons, but only after you clear the map, complete the quests of 7 islands, but don't forget you have to complete the storyline quest first, and that will get you geared... but wait there's more! You have to spend skill points in PvE, PvP, Tradeskills, switch gear for each of the disciplines to effectively gain skill/levels at the quickest rate possible, research spells, raid to get certain spells, then complete a max level skill/AA tree that is directly associated with your epic weapon that is completely separate from you other skill trees and each of those points cost incrementally more... no exponentially more so you max your weapon out to increase your item level so you can go to certain tier raids which take you back to the opportunity to get the best gear, augments, sockets, mats, etc.
lol... those are complete exaggerations and combining several games but that's how I feel sometimes.
It's kind of like movies... sometimes I just want to shut my brain off and enjoy and then other times I want a deep storyline, with complex characters. Right now, when it comes to a MMO, just tell me where my armor piece drops and i'll hang out with my friends at a camp spot and kill it until it drops. I'm sure i'm in the minority though in that regards.