It seems to me EQ just sort of run its course over time. People wanted a new place to go and Warcraft had the big name. EQ2 was a bit of a failure just as the two attempts at new Ultima Onlines were busts before they were even launched.

I can't argue against Blizzard's devotion to quality and playable. "Everpatch" was a word frequently heard. Being both popular and stable counts for a lot for server growth as I found with the many servers I've seen on NWN.