Rise of MMO, Death of Independence

So with the upcoming games like the Neverwinter and Elderscrolls Online it seems as if the stand alone market for games is dying. Though some RPG's still try to bridge the gap with solo story driven content and multi-player options (the first that comes to mind for me is White Knight Chronicles 2, a JRPG on the PS3). Many are favoring purely online instead and are gradually shifting their focus. The soon-to-be relaunched Final Fantasy MMO for example speaks volumes of where SquareEnix sees their future.
The "Steam Box" or Piston is another example of this fundamental shift into this Gamer Community and may actually be the hero for the remaining solo players among us. Linking with your Steam account and downloading the plethora of old school games like the Fable series or Skyrim or the like... but wait, what's that in the distance? It's the community again! Forums at your finger tips about optimizing character builds, player created mods and re-skins.
Being an avid online-gamer myself, I don't really see this as big news but still important to know.