Fact of the matter is that for those of us who have been playing 3 years or so, we have seen a lot of turnover recently and we do not see the new players coming in because why would we? So we see people quitting with no frame of reference towards new players joining. So it looks like things are bleak when in reality the game is shifting it's player base, or it is slowly falling off the bridge.
As a recruiting officer in a guild it has gotten harder and harder to find people "worthy" of a 220mil+ GP guild. That's because a lot of "end game" level players have or are quitting. That's just a fact. Call it whatever you want, but it is true. Discord servers that used to be hopping are quiet as kept now. Whales in arena shards are disappearing.
I've been close to quitting at least five times the past year. I refuse to spend any money, especially after GAS and how the hardest, most expensive toon to get in the game then needs 72K GET1 to get to 7* even thought GET1 income has been slashed due to Geo TB. I got GAS the first time around and will finally get him to 7* this week. Meanwhile I've seen people get him the second time and beat me to it. At 6* dude gets one shot in every single GAC and TW. Loving that first unlock advantage.
I digress, but those decisions are what are pushing older players out the door. Plain and simple.