[Goronmon]

That doesn't seem like a sensible comparison considering how much the gameplay of EvE differs from the typical MMO.

The "typical" MMO doesn't even try to handle large populations. The use of separate servers, population caps and login queues are how just about every one else deals with congestion problems.

Even from your second link there is the quote "Working with IBM, the EVE server cluster is maintained in London and is currently the largest supercomputer employed in the gaming industry." Sure that is from 2008, but newer MMOs are built using the same overall server architecture you saw back in the days of Ultima Online.