The next phase of people was the ones that found community and now wanted to 'win' the game. Player drop among these was very low through this period and I credit much of that to community loyalty. Once players had reached the 'win' scenario, there was a new period of high drop out before it all stabilized itself in those that would not leave until the servers were gone. These people usually have so much invested into their community and their characters and feels that the gain of going to another game is not worth it. They might wield power in their current community and feel that they will have to start back in square one if they move to the next community.
Community is a meta entity outside the direct control of any organization.
The games, online sites, churches, etc., can create tools and incentives that appeal to the community and make them stay. When an online game community migrates from one game to the next, it is because someone has provided better content and bigger incentives. There are many ways of manipulating a community, ethical as well as unethical, but in the end it is always the collective edition that moves the community. On an online seminar in London a few years ago, a representative from Kesmai talked about how they successfully vacuumed the community of a competitor to their Air Warrior. They offered the most influential people and the wing leaders special deals in their game.