There's a number of factors as to why folks quit the game.
Actually the way I see it is that there are a number of layers in this MMO that people don't realize and that some people tend to forget. And this is either for the new player or the veteran. After all, we have to look at several factors.
First off let's take a look at the economy, both in RL and in game. What has caused a lot of problems that have happened in RL, are also happening in the game, most notably the manipulation of the markets in general, and the cut throat tactics of resellers in game. Add to that the fact that a lot of players have this "Greed is good" mentality, and thus set unrealistic goals to succeed.
Then there's the newcomers. A lot of turnover happens here because of one thing, and that thing is in fact, and relates to the previous comment, especially the "Greed is good" part. They lack the one thing that a lot of players have in any MMO and that is in fact patience. A lot of newcomers don't pace themselves, and want quick results, thinking like they are playing (Insert another MMO name here), and that they can be a great hunter, miner, or crafter in just a few weeks (and yes this comes from a player who has been in the game for just 27 months and who has only 50K of skills, with only 9 globals to his name (and a lot of team globals as well that do show up on Entropia Tracker, but are usually lost in the fact that it's under a team name). But I digress. A lot of newcomers today want quick results. Waiter, reality check please. A lot of players need to pace themselves.. I mean I go out and I do deposit, but I work within a budget, and know when to quit when the hunting or mining is bad.
That plus the fact that a lot of newcomers are looking to get rich quick.. I myself like to think of this as more of a long term investment than a get rich quick scheme.
Now granted the loots have been bad, (most notably on Calypso), but then people tend to stick to one area, rather than migrate to another part of the MMO (Namely and currently Rocktropia). If you look at the market in general on Calypso, it's a market where everyone is trying to get greedy, and thus you see the market fluctuating wildly (add to that, the fact that folks are manipulating the market, and it makes it very hard for any player down on Calypso to even turn over a profit.)
Now up on Rocktropia, the reverse is true. Here is a wide open market, and sure it's linked to the Calypso market, but the thing is that right now the market is wide open. I had a friend who had been in game two years ago return, and he vowed to leave Calypso, and take his crafting business up to Rocktropia, and you know what? He's making a small fortune and doing it under the markup of the Calypso market.
Now then, what does this all mean? Well considering that you have market manipulators, a poor economy, people who are greedy, and a lot of folks who are close minded, they tend to quit a game frustrated, and in fact with very little (or no cash) on their PED card. They blow through hundreds (if not thousands of PEDs and get frustrated that they're getting low returns, and of course the key thing is that they fail to pace themselves.
In the end, those who do quit really aren't real gamers in the sense.. A real gamer is someone who is willing to pace themselves, to learn how to budget, and importantly, know when to stop, or look for some new opportunity to come along.
In closing I feel that if there are real players out there, they do know what to do, and they're succeeding. Those who don't, won't..
That's my two PED on the matter.
Benjamin Ben Coyote
A.K.A. "The Blind Sniper"
