Making Virtual Worlds More Lifelike

Researchers at PARC have spent the past three years studying the social aspects of MMO's, and have come to some interesting conclusions. In their minds, making the games better places to socialize and interact with others could mean an improved bottom line for the game developers - even though they may not realize it. From the article:

"When faced with the decision, 'Do I put in another dungeon or do I improve the experience for (groups of players)?'" said Ducheneaut, publishers often say "'I'll put in another dungeon.' I think that's incredibly shortsighted."

So what do you think - do these researchers have a point, or do you prefer the development cycle as it is?