My two cents (Score 0)

Seriously, the same could be said for all the players who devoted a year or two of their lives to EQ1 (or who still play). As far as I've seen the game industry has not been hurt by them too badly.

Then again, WoW is a fresher exscuse as to why the game industry is hurting as blaming the pirates seems to be losing its momentum (see Hollywoods losing battle)

As an ex-player of both EQ1, EQ2, and WoW I believe that the competition that WoW adds to the MMORPG industry is extremely healthy and that those people who play this type of game genre do not typically fit the target audience that most single-player games tailor themselves to.