Most MMOs do see a significant decrease in population after their initial hype, and population springs back during things like expansions, to my knowledge. News articles from as late as late November claim that Trion is continuing to expanding as a whole, so they can't be doing too bad.
I think I get what you're saying about vet MMOs, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's a significant factor!
Regardless, I still don't quite feel we've defined the industry standard yet. Got a busy week and a half ahead of me, but I'm not adverse to going through another game or two worth of patch notes.
