FF14 player count reached the lowest point in 4 years. We lost 75% of the playerbase.

[Sunhwapark]

but for a lot of people this has turned from being their main 'game' to just the game that they come back to when there's nothing better to do, which is also why the game feels so lifeless IMO.

It does feel this way.
I don't have a gigantic pool of friends - but I used to see so many more people online on my friends list or linkshells, but nowadays most people I've known have put the game down entirely since DT.