From a newcomers perspective, it's been difficult to find good group that gets on at the same time that has a strong leadership/organization. I think this is because there's really not much of a cohesive theme for any built in missions (other than CG) to organize players, leaving it up to the created group to manage it all, which is a huge task with large groups. I think this wears on the people holding that burden and, like all things, they fizzle out.
New players will need to pick up the "scepter" and push on. Who knows, it could reignite some old passions and get everyone playing again. The May update will be the time to strike as everyone, even those that took a break, will be at least checking it out.