Didn't people beg for Trainer tower and Battle frontier too? That's pretty much getting even more away from that player-to-player interaction. We're doing it ourselves, that alone was a lot of a bigger step towards it than confirmed Hidden Power. And this game still sets it apart from the handhelds. You can fight people right off the bat, you can talk to them, even tho most of them are cancerous, bar teams, you can see all of them throughout the map, have fun, that alone is enough communication for a MMO. And the worst thing is, most people now just create an account, , play for a few hours, boast in channel chat or wherever the fuck they please and act like dicks. Most of the communication made in this game, atleast I believe with you, and me, and most of the players that do comp and breeding for a bit longer, are either through whispers, teams, or regular talk on officials/unofficials. Basically, the main part of that player-to-player interaction is toxic, and most, if not all of the older, more experienced players don't even want to give an attempt of going in there.
Totally derailed from economy, but title has community too, so yeah, that'd be my opinion
And I guess I need a Tauros now