Eh, the Numenoreans reached a quality of life that was better than First Age Middle Earth inhabitants (don't mind the guys chilling @ Valinor, literal Paradise/

Eh, the Numenoreans reached a quality of life that was better than First Age Middle Earth inhabitants (don't mind the guys chilling @ Valinor, literal Paradise/Avalon), then we in the Sixth Age did it again. But yeah, the metaphysics of the setting, that all creatures no matter how great or small only have so much gas inside themself - not even Melkor was able to reach his greatness in the dawn of the world, or even during the First Age. He spread himself too thin in his monstrous creations - dragons, orcs, thousands other things, and into the soil and gold of Arda Marred.