You can't exclusively support the hardcore audience, but you do need a level of support for it. The hardcore players are the ones doing the research, writing the strategies and guides, and finding or exploiting bug and balance issues.

There are upcoming MMOs? I thought we all accepted this genre is dead?

I might be open to a new MMO at some point. I'm 100% out if it requires grouping for the main storyline, is super grindy, or I have to do corpse runs. I have two jobs and no time for that. I enjoy doing some group stuff, but I don't want to pay for a game where I get nowhere because of my schedule.

I'd also be out if it had some parry system (quicktime events, basically) or souls-like combat in general as it's just not my bag; I'm there for the quests and story more than anything else.

Cater to someone at least and do it well. Really it depends on what your costs are to keep it running. Some have kept going for years with 3 digit player counts. Be sustainable.

As a casual player I've never found an MMO that interests me, so catering to a hardcore audience isn't a bad idea.

They've always felt like "single player games but you need help to defeat a bullet sponge every so often". I'm sure being a part of a guild makes these segments great but when you're a new player on your own they feel unapproachable.

I'd love to play a multiplayer game where players contribute to a developing story rather than repeat the same one everyone else has done. Obviously that's a ton of work so I'm not surprised it doesn't exist.