I think the genre is dying of ennui resulting from any true challenge and reward system being in place in most games these days. This, IMO, is why Pantheon is so important. It will reveal whether people will truly respond to challenge and reward or if they have drank the easy-mode koolaid.
There is really no way of knowing if something is dieing when in reality it has not existed for over a decade. The real question is will the re-birth survive. EQ to me was the only game I ever played that really impacted on me as a person in real life. My calender was built around the game , my alarm clock set to raids , and to this day some of my favourite memories in life revolve around my wizzy and her travels. Interaction with gm's . LOL I remember pertitioning snare slowing me and ranting and raving at the xp loss and how stupid can your programmers be , and he calmly pointed out it was an ae spell. That was 20 years ago and yet it was yesterday. I am sure every EQ player here has a dozen such moments , and I challenge you to remember more then a couple from other games.
This is the only game I have ever bought into and supported , and to be honest am not entirely convinced it will happen , but it is what I want to play , I want to hear DING and it means something. I want to log in and have people ask me to group because I have proved myself. I want to play with people with the same moral values as myself , and paradox as it is , only something very hard can make morals count.
So if and when it comes I will reset my calender and alarm clock and embark on the journey , and the only thing I am sure of , is that I will not travel alone.
Pape