There really isnt a fantasy MMO where you are just a scrub making his way in the world any more, where a huge obstacle is an ogre warlord or evil wizard threatening one village. Current EQ1/2 are all about epic dragon time travel alternate universes, WoW is about averting the end of the world every patch, same with GW2. Rift has the same "you are an hero" background we have in TESO or apparently here.
I liked that less overpowered setting, i.e. classic EQ/Kunark. Even Velious didnt feature any world-ending lore except the one that was under control and caused by the players, the Sleeper. PoP and beyond on the other hand, same deal as WoW.