You're leaving out the most important aspect of the experience: socializing with others.
I couldn't even begin to tell you how much fun I had in that game hanging out with the friends I had made while waiting for the game to release.
From going out and questing together, to racing, fishing and exploration. The planets in that game were about six miles across in either direction and packed with all sorts of neat things to find.
With a game like that, it's the natural stories that happen when you're out in the world that matter. Not the pre-written heavily scripted stuff, just virtual life.
You don't know fear until you've wandered deep into a Squill cave you've stumbled upon on Tatooine.