Since I didn't want to waste time searching for random people to party with, I convinced my wife and a friend to start playing with me. We're all about to get to level 20 and are eager to see if the 3 of us can complete Deadmines.
I haven't experienced the kind of "ghost-town" feel that the writer described. Even minor towns usually had people running around them. Also, the writer's use of "everyone" and "we" doesn't apply to me or anyone I know. The 3 of us are learning how to play together effectively, and having a great time doing it. At the rate we're progressing, we probably have many hundreds of hours of fun gaming ahead of us even if we never do anything more than 5-man dungeons.