Very much agree too. I think of recent controversy about WoW's decision to not allow flying at all in the new content for WoD until after the first major content patch gets applied and a critique made, how it's less about the removal of the convenience of flying and more about how absolutely inconvenient the other systems in place are, i.e. the flight paths/ground mounts and use of Hearthstones.
For me the most backwards components remain first-tag and forced grouping. Those things are the most anti-social elements in an MMO, and are best left dead and buried for time immemorial. If you want to have organized group content, fine. But don't make it the only alternative to solo play in the game. Open-ended grouping is an awesome mechanic, much as some might decry it as 'no-skill zerging' and so on.