Yeah agreed the quests are stale and overdone. If some more interesting / challenging quests were added it would achieve both goals of RP and XP. People are sick and tired of Rping about the same old quests for the 200th time and just want to get it over with for the meagre XP reward.
If you want players to be level 8 then cap it there otherwise add some more fulfilling end game content for serious gamers.
I understand you've got a vision for the server though we've been asking for the old quest ports/harder content for ages and it's just not there. With two fellow 8s I was able to do any quest on the server.
I understand these things take time and can be a lot of work though I believe you'd find ample volunteers to help