Ding Dong, NI Is Dead

[Malong]

"No new content ever:" well, this is a free game created and maintained by volunteer developers in their free time.
"No fun allowed:" on the whole, I can't really reply on this subject, I'm not one of those "I have to be different" type of players. About being naked or low tier gear, there is (or at least used to be) a rule to use armor and weapons of your tier in Hard and Ragnarok.
"Trading is such a hassle:" this is an extension of the rarity of drops.
"Legendaries are all that matter:" this is a part of diminishing returns and it occurs in more than just gaming.
"The super rich control the market:" this seems to be a rephrasing of "Trading is such a hassle." Anyways, I don't feel it's "controlled" by the super rich, but the market on certain items is certainly "cornered by" the super rich. This phenomenon (again) is not unique to NI.
"No purpose:" the purpose is progression. Like every game with persistent stats that I've ever played, character level cap is a very insignificant part of maximum progression.

These issues are not unique to NI. It seems your base issue is with this type of game. As you and others have stated, you don't need all that much time spent to enjoy the game, and you don't need all the small upgrades that take lots of time to have fun. Maybe this genre is not for you.

As a side note about faction points and nord kill points, it's too late. The players who were frustrated about pseudo-randomness instead of time invested have either accepted it and continue to play, or have long left the mod. The dev response in the NKP thread was pretty disappointing, with one post making it clear that activity and persistence should not be rewarded and would be too much of an advantage over pure pseudo-randomness.