You're right Graphics do matter, that is the "First Impression" that people get and we all probably have heard the saying about First Impressions being the most important. Graphics sell the game, not content. Content holds players, it's Graphics and usability that get them in the door.
There is more to the very first impressions in an MMO than just graphics.
Looks, overall feel,charm, impression of something promising being there all conribute. I've long argued CC does great job at providing this. EC on the other hand requires a ton of work and tuning before it ends up in somewhat non-dysfunctional condition. Allegedly it is possible to find settings in it that don't ignite hatred and agony in person using it. Doing so requires pretty impressive amouint of understanding of the game. People getting his 1st impressions doesn't have this.
Due to it's name alone, the (very, very few) people who have never played UO and wish to give it a spin always pick EC. It'd serve the game well if they renamed it to " advanced client" or such.
Ultimately none of this matters. UO is pretty literally going unmanaged in terms of marketing and visibility. There is no some small sub office, department or office clerk in basement of EA that'd get paid for sacrifcing a single thought to visibility or accessibility of UO. Time since EA displayed any interest to such things can be measured in decades. There are unofficial free servers that generate more hype than EA does to UO.
