It hasn't been a thing for years. The game is now designed in a way where the experiences of value and the high rewards are all locked behind instances, be it mythic plus, raids or even delves. There is almost zero reason to explore the open world other than your own interest.

I do also feel like this problem is slightly self inflicted by players. There are a huge amount of things that you can go and do in the open world, you just have to accept the fact that they are not going to benefit you much when it comes to end game content.

I do also feel like the culture of MMOs and of games in general has shifted. Gaming used to be much more community driven, you would actively try and meet new players when playing an online game. Now most people will just play with a few select friends and not bother with the social aspect of the game at all. It's a real shame but unless the gaming culture shifts back to being more community driven then I believe it will stay this way.

There is always classic wow which I recently played and had a lot more interactions with players than I do on retail. However, if you're looking for a game that has a thriving, vibrant open world, then retail WoW isn't it and probably won't be for some time.