What would be really great is if companies could calibrate their reward structures based on what's going to make players happy to log on, rather than trying to trap them into racking up the maximum amount of time in-game.
I haven't played video games in awhile, so I don't think I'm burnt out on them, which may make this a matter of differing mentality...But might it not also help to reevaluate whether a game should rely on a reward system/structure to entertain people to begin with?
It seems like these reward system designs are largely unsustainable without constant upkeep, in some part given that the rest of a game built around them often lacks sufficiently entertaining gameplay systems independent of them.