Is your dvd drive PATA? Is your old hard drive PATA? If so maybe you need to change the master/slave jumper on the DVD drive to get it to work on its own on the IDE channel.
It could work out great if the quality of what you see, and the amount of latency etc. is decent. That needs a very fast internet connection, which I'd imagine isn't even possible for most people, let alone worth the cost. That said, when net speeds eventually get fast enough it might catch on-...
Well in a way its testament to the appeal of the game that people actually play it for four years. Anyone playing it for that long is going to be getting a little bored with some aspects. But that doesn't mean there aren't new players taking the place of those leaving. I've played for 3-4 years...