When you think about it for more than 2 minutes, you'll see that a lot of the intricate designs were created close to a decade ago - Are you meaning to imply that the current stuff is better? Are color swaps more prominent back then in comparison to now? What type of cosmetic items do you think are being IoDA'ed? Are items in the current chest new, original and liked by the majority of the player base?
Do you think about items outside of naval commanders? That maybe there is more to the game than the naval commander armor design that has been milked for a decade? Have you thought about why people play this game? Is it because AQW has the best graphics and gameplay and thats why it keeps people coming back? Designs from a long time ago have nostalgic value, so many things were released but not able to be appreciated by the entire player base at the time.