I'm on the side of less is more.
Sure, let the common/white items drop enough to help while looking for your first Magic for that slot, but make stats meaningful again so that a Magic upgrade feels special and lasts for awhile. Bring the meaning back to Rares. Even if the goal is to have 3hour ish play sessions, that doesn't mean that you should get the drop in 1 session.
Games where you upgrade your entire set every 10 levels via handouts / easy quests make the gear meaningless. These sorts of treadmills is what Cause the mindset of rush to end-game, because people want to earn gear that matters.
Make Time to Kill and leveling curve longer too, to enjoy those drops longer.
I'm a bit shocked at the number of posters suggesting that the status quo for modern MMOs can't be broken... Perhaps those players did not experience what it was like in EQ vanilla and perhaps the new generation will Like it Better when they try it out and feel what it's like to earn gear while leveling that you get to keep for weeks/months.
So much goes in to this and it is core to the game experience.
Down with loot pinatas, dungeon finders, dungeon completion loot appearing on your screen, marginlizing raid gear every few months, free-be mindless quest sets.
Bring back Old School
Spot on GeneralReb. Sure, having the same gear for a while can bring feelings of "damn this lame item ", but it also encourages one to adventure and search for something better. And the reward isn't just the item, but the feeling of accomplishment and intrinsic value.
That doesn't exist when items are replaced so frequently.