This is common misconception. I'm veteran player and game doesn't cater to me. Veteran players usually become casual due to IRL reasons, like having job and therefore not being able to play 24/7, as it was back in old times. They aren't bad players. They could be very skillful back in old times. For example they could do hardcore raiding. They know game mechanics. They know their classes/specs. They just don't have desire to dedicate themselves to game too much any longer. They don't have time to learn, they don't have time to train skill. They just want to play. And in this case they look more like newbie players.
And what I want to say - game is too hardcore for such players. It's more like E-Sport for players, who play for sake of challenging themselves. Not for players, who, for example, want to live in fantasy world. Game revolves around power progression and looks more like service, than game.
What I agree with - is that sub fee is bad for game. It forces players to hurry and to burn out. Overall it forces player to play more, than he would play, if game would be free. Minimal sub fee quantum is way too big - one month. Casual players want to play more eventually. Some players want to play for just week. Some players want to play on weekends only. Sometimes they want to play other games just to change scenery. And it's not that bad. It doesn't mean, that Wow isn't enough for them, so it should have more content. It's also common misconception. Players just want to play different games. And sub fee forces them to focus on Wow. So at some point they simply decide to unsub to remove this obligation from themselves. Yeah, there are players, for whom sub fee isn't meaningful, so they simply forget to cancel it. Yeah, $15 isn't that much. But you should remember, that it's not only sub fee, adult people pay. They pay for internet, they pay for phone, they pay for TV, they pay for utility, etc. And this sub fees stack on a top of each other, that result in significant monthly costs. So something also paying sub fees for games - is just too much.
But I don't agree, that Wow is easy. It's complete BS. It's harder, than it has ever been. It's the hardest now. Due to scaling, due to borrowed powers, due to shift towards group content. It revolves around purely E-Sport content. Mythic raids, M+, arenas, RBGs. Even outdoor content is tuned for players from this content. And it's major reason, why I no longer play it. This "game is easy" misconception usually comes from playing "wrong" content. Like playing 1-10 leveling, while having 10 years of experience, and saying "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu it's easy". Well. IT SHOULD BE EASY. Or playing outdoor content, that is intended to be played by casual players, in full mythic gear, obtained in hardcore content. Playing hard content - is your choice. If it devalues easier content for you - then it's your problem. It shouldn't problem for players, for whom it's intended.
I also don't agree, that game isn't about social aspect now. I have completely opposite problem - it's overcrowded. And social aspect - is two-edged blade. It's not always positive. It can be negative. When there is not enough of it - it's lonely. But when it's overused - it causes exceeding competition. And players just don't want to play World of Queuecraft. Forcing social interaction also causes problems with content lifetime. Content, that requires social interaction, usually dies, when activity drops, even when it can still be interesting for some players. For example they would want to play it on alts. This causes "You can complete this content only 2 xpacks after current one". And this causes players to shift more and more towards playing obsoleted content instead of current one, that, again, makes paying sub fee pointless for them.
Overall this game just looks obsoleted. While it was ok to play World of Grind/RNG/Time-gating-craft back in 2004, it's not ok to play it in 2022. One xpack costs 420$. It's cost of 7 new AAA games. Is Wow content worth it? Or may be there are some better ways to spend such amount of money? Yeah, game can keep you busy for 2 years. But by what kinds of content? By repeatable content? I.e. it doesn't have 7x content. It just forces your to repeat the same content 7x times. Not many players still tend to have such compulsive behavior today. Game just isn't fun! It revolves around grinding pointless things just to become stronger to grind even more pointless things and show other players, how good your are at grinding pointless things. This game doesn't have meaningful goal. Only permanent rewards in this games, that are worth getting - are transmogs, mounts and pets. And even these things are gated behind pointless grinds.
Direction of development should be changed in next xpack. If some players like current design, then ok - leave it. But some dedicated fun content should be implemented. Or, if devs don't want to spend extra resources on making more content, some "difficulty" switch should be implemented to make all content fun. I don't want to write long explanation, what "fun" means. Overall this content should be 6.2-like. In term of quality of course. Not quantity. May be adding some account-wide progression to make game more alt-friendly.