Achievement is one of the most significant motivations for a very large number of gamers, MMORPGs included (http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/pdf/3-2.pdf). Classic currently does not really have such a thing outside of spar and PK records. Aside from that point, the players most successful in sparring cheat via speedhacking, VPNs, network emulation software, etc. Guilds are at the center of PKing and have no loyalty. Archery is buggy as hell. Essentially, there are very few ways to achieve anything for the average player. Only half of the players can be better than anyone else at sparring (or anything else). The number of people cheating preclude any sense of achievement for an even larger number of people. Opening new avenues for achievement would therefore make sense to me.