That mentality is the manifestation of stagnation.
It's also supremely weird. Most realms do not have much if any inter-realm interaction any more, so what does it matter if a realm dies if it's only a name. I'd guess that people who'd leave over the death of a realm aren't very involved in the game to begin with, and that a realm loss would merely serve as a wakeup call to that fact.
An adventurous attitude is what's required for a vibrant realm; a willingness to put everything on the line. It's not a sure bet, but it's better than nothing. Clinging to realms is not only pointless, it's counteractive. So do away with these realms of today and create new and better realms tomorrow. Sitting in the same realm for ten years and expecting it to last ten more is just about the lamest thing I can think of.
Perhaps the reason for the player loss is stagnation. While the East Island was waging that massive and drastic war five years ago it was very popular. Players started draining out of that place shortly after the war ended, when prospects for another such war began to look grim.
You're really missing the point. The realms Indrik is talking about aren't stagnant places where people stick around out of habit. They're vibrant places filled with internal politics and nuances. These are places where people put things on the line. There's a big difference between being willing to put things on the line and being willing to have an outside force show up and take it away in one fell swoop. If people don't like the idea of carrying on with their character or a new one after their realm is taken away that isn't a sign that they weren't involved with the game that's a sign they were very involved with the game. That shows they thought enough about their characters to see them as a product of their environment with strong opinions about the institutions around them. That shows that they acknowledge that their characters will be understandably lost if their entire continent were destroyed and that some of them would be unable to carry on and choose to die themselves rather then abandon everything they ever held dear.
I would never carry on with Turin on another continent. Not because of habit, not because he brings in lots of gold or wields a lot of power, but because his existence is defined by a religion which exists only on Dwilight. I have a very strong sense of who Turin is and what he'd do in a given situation. He would
never leave Dwilight in the face of some cataclysm. Based on his fanatical religious beliefs he would conclude that achieving enlightenment was impossible without a geographical proximity to the blood stars. Therefore he'd probably choose to die floating in a boat like Boreal Arrakis rather then leave.
Commitment to character integrity should be encouraged not punished and inevitably if people are putting real thought into their characters they'll get attached to them and to the story surrounding them.
