People aren't simplistic expressions of one idea. As a result, I think Jordan really only wrote about one, perhaps two people (Ishamael showed some depth). The fact that this is the case is abundantly clear in the atrocious story writing. Nynaeve pulls her braid. Someone else smooths her dress. No one has any real conflicts or acts with anything approaching the complexity of a real person.
And so yes, I know it's fantasy. But to be believable fantasy it has to have some points of contact with the real world that allow the reader to relate to someone. And for the reader to really relate, there has to be some depth, some conflict within as well as without the characters.
As for the obscurity of WoT, it's already fading. And let's not forget that Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is also a best-selling fantasy series. Just because something is flavor of the month doesn't mean it will last. To last, it has to remain popular. WoT went off the rails and had a sloppy, stitched-together ending because the writer died before he finished it. I don't blame Sanderson for it; he was doing the best with what he had. I never recommend fantasy books anymore to anyone, but my "fantasy fanatic" friends (that's a lot of "f"s) don't recommend Wheel of Time to anyone. Mistborn - absolutely. aSoIaF? Sometimes. WoT? Never. You have to be pretty deep in the Kool-Aid to recommend what turned out as a botched series to someone, knowing everything we know now.
So I wouldn't recommend any fantasy to a friend, I'm more of a non-fiction kind of reader really.
Honestly, I was bored silly with aSoIaF ... the TV show has made it a far more relevant (and engaging) fantasy piece, but the story is all over the place and there is little I find compelling after about book 2. Martin's penchant for killing off anyone and everyone made it too hard to stay connected to the story. At a certain point I simply stopped caring about any of the characters and dropped the series. I also don't like the "dramatic surprise/reveal" a la Red Wedding (didn't like the Sharan invasion either).
WoT is a much more reader friendly story IMO. Characters that are easy to identify with, a simplistic black & white world view of "good and evil" and somewhat predictable storylines, but enough curve balls to keep you guessing. No it's not amazing quality writing, but it's enjoyable. I think RJ deliberately kept his characters fairly one-dimensional and predictable. It fits into one of his major themes of people only seeing things from their own world view. He seems to have chosen to write them as archetypes of "heros and villains" and had them play to type throughout the series, no mean feat when you think about how consistent he kept them for 20 years of writing.
As for relevance, you might be right about the flavor of the month, but for more than 20 years WoT has consistently been a fantasy bestseller no easy feat in these times. I don't think the ending will do it any favors over the long haul. Sadly the film/TV rights issues will only hurt it's long term popularity and without new material it will obviously fall off over the next few years.
