Serious question, how has MS changed since August 2009?

Everything is basically the same, same amount of nx whoring as ever. Your mesos are worth less now though, and I think we see a decline of active players. We have had some nifty patching but nothing to make it more fun to play a higher leveled character, and that might be why less people play lately.
Aran in all its glory, but I want to play on my night lord without having to glue myself to a broken ultimatespammer or spend amazing amounts of money on 2x crap just to get 5-10% per hour. For you at such a low level, there's plenty to do. Especially if you've yet to earn stuff like a MoN or maker yourself some nice gear and a reverse lampion.