This is missing my biggest trick: one of my biggest ways of fighting boredom with code is focusing on meaning. E.g., if I'm building a system to serve particular people, I meet them, I visit their offices, I watch them work. I also like watching user tests and taking support calls. Even when some particular block of code isn't technically fancy, I'm not bored by it as long as it's of use to people.
Of course, once you start doing this, you're not really a "coder" any more, you're somebody who uses code to solve problems for people. This doesn't fit neatly into some managers' pigeonholes, but I think it results in much better products, so I'm ok with that.
Yes, so much this... I like new fancy stuff as much as the next guy but I'd describe my motivations as 'solving other peoples problems with technology'. That can be done just as easily in a legacy codebase as in a greenfield project.
Of course, once you start doing this, you're not really a "coder" any more, you're somebody who uses code to solve problems for people. This doesn't fit neatly into some managers' pigeonholes, but I think it results in much better products, so I'm ok with that.