OT: why they don't epic games like WoW anymore?

not young anymore- but been playing World of Warcraft for over a decade since it was released in 2004/2005. I remember going PvP there and competing weekly in Arenas and battlegrounds. It was just epic. WoW wasn't just a game - it was, for me, and my friends in RL - our place in the world.
Friends we met in game back then forged something that was extremely difficult to re-create anywhere else; and even, I know of family, happy marriages etc- that all happened thanks to WoW. (okay, probably also some divorces too!).
But all this to say.. what happened today to these of games? Why with the technology of today, advanced engine, VR / AR etc- instead of becoming this more the rule, it became more an exception and those games vanished?