the issue with SRO is taht the game is not rewarding
Games like Runescape, even RS3, and WOW is that doing X rewards you with content ingame, areas to explore and sometimes even good gear that can help you on the game
SRO doesnt have any of that, the game is comparable to even today's mtx filled games. In order to progress, you need to have a MASSIVE amount of hours in the game. Even when paying, you are not guaranteed to get good gear, exp rates or even accomplish something. That's why people get soo burned out of SRO and why private servers know how to exploit this. Private servers are a way for people to accomplish what they couldnt on official servers. They cut down the process of "getting good" in a matter of days compared to iSRO which can take months to do so