Players quitting can't be summarized to protests, or the like, only. Some players are simply attached to very little, and if that very little happens to be removed, then without necessarily being pissed off against anyone or anything, they could simply not have any motivation left to keep playing. Which, in turn, can demotivate others, even in other realms, that relied on interactions with these people.
Just because action had to be taken doesn't mean that all consequences of the action taken shouldn't be studied and discussed.
