I think it might be helpful to remember that a lot of gamers nowadays are casual gamers with very busy lives.
They have a mortgage, car payments, children with tuition funds, pets, wives, husbands, mistresses, misters, etc.
You're not going to hear that much on the forums from these folks, because they feel lucky when they get a few minutes to read the forums on their iphone in the bathroom between meetings. Not much time to craft a post at all.
They do log in, and are often thankful for the brief escape. They do pay their bills, same as those who log in very often, but don't put very much stress on the server from a relative point of view.
Many of these folks don't want more drama or a virtual soap opera because of all the real life things they have to fill that need.
I think, with humble respect, sometimes the very vocal minority come to believe they are a majority because they hear their own echo and assume everyone is saying the same as they are.
Speaking of prosperity, the casual gamer is a great demographic. They are not particularly fickle. They take a long time to exhaust all facets of a game because they don't have much time to play.
$15 a month to them is saying "By jobe I'm spending this on myself" and is actually a welcomed luxury rather than something to bitch about.
They don't have time to complain on forums, they move on to the kid trying to light the furnace and wait for devs to figure it out.
Over the years, there have been many instances where these folks log on to find that the very vocal minority had their echoes amplified to the powers that be and the game has changed to the point they no longer want to be there.
It's happened many times. I hope, and think, the developers themselves are very busy, understand this demographic very well, and have perhaps been there themselves.
Thanks for the eyes and grey cells if you read this