I think eq2 is doing fine and will only get better. The market has been flooded with games eq2,wow,matrix,gw,ffxi,ao,sor,daoc,ac,ac2 etc... IMO eq2 has much more long term staying power than most of the ones I mentioned. There are alot of changes planned and laready haqppening for eq2 on the test server. A almost total reworking of the combat,spells,arts system. I think the future looks bright
I feel the reason the server numbers are down is because of the flood of new games. People are curious and will try out the new comers and I would imagine alot are like me and tend to cancel one before trying another. They'll be back though EQ2 still has that "thing" that none of the others are even close to having.
Im glad eq2 is so casual friendly. Nearly every other game on the markets caters to the hardcore, uber guild, raid oriented. The casual player has alwasy been considered last and I think SOE has found a dedicated player base of people who dont gank, zerg, grief, or play for 12 hours a day and I hope they keep this a game for such mature easy going people.