The Digital Continuum: Why must MMOs die?

Massively writes:

"Sitting on my desk are copies of Earth and Beyond and Auto Assault. In fact, I've even got a CE box for Auto Assault (that thing cost me 80 bucks). Unfortunately, these games are just dust collectors now. I keep them to remind me of the possibility of sunset and how much it can suck. Even if you didn't play Tabula Rasa, there were thousands of people who did, and that's all that really matters

It seems like a silly thing to outright shutdown any MMO. When it happens, you always find yourself wondering, "Couldn't they have just cut down operating costs?" or something along those lines. I've had the chance to talk with various people on the development and publishing side of the industry and strangely enough most of them tell me that when an MMO gets turned off, it's usually because the publisher just lost interest in making it work."