Lets stop thinking that VGN was a good soul. People tried for months to make VGN understand that they need a better way to do stuff on the server, having easier fortifications, better economy and other QOL stuff. VNG refused to change their view on those topics until very late caps. Yes, they did change a lot and it was very good changes, but lets not forget that it was due after a majority of people had quit already, at a later cap, this was the biggest mistake from VGN, not understand what people were asking.
VGN is the most professional and competent group working with EE ? Yes. But you can't blame people if they wanna having fun with servers that were offering more casual time than VGN, you could geared numbers of classes, try different stuff on pvp.
Both Players and VGN had their faults for classic not working out, thats why a fresh start its need for both the relationship (player/staff) and the server. With a good management and the QOL stuff they are implement, the classic can be a good server.