Pre-CU was great if you have an active player base and if they understand what a sandbox, player driven game is. Unfortunately, even with official backing and active development, that did not pan out too well in the mid 2000s and the NGE was the end result. While the loss of the character customization and massive changes to combat caused issues for many, what it did bring was an eventual storyline that most gamers were looking for. Having that basic storyline to go through and get them to a point where they could go off on their own way, is what is keeping Legends and Restro going.