Why is rake so high, and why isn't competition driving it down?

[gisb0rne]

There are more poker sites than there were several years ago, with more players, yet rake remains ridiculously high. If I 4 table 200+15 SNGs that's $60-75 an hour I'm paying in rake. The rake at the online cardrooms is as high as B&M cardrooms but you get none of the amenities. No waiters, free food, friendly staff, comfy seats, etc.

I also play online massively multiplayer roleplaying games where they charge $15 a month for unlimited play. Online games like Guild Wars charge nothing for unlimited play. These games have large development costs and high maintenance costs yet still charge far less than 1% of what I pay Party/Stars each month. What's going on here and why aren't there competing sites doing anything about it? I imagine you could profitably run a site with 1/4 the rake or less, especially if you get massive volume like Party.