Guess you have not played in a while. Yes, it is that dead. When I started playing about 7 years ago, OA always had bad lag because of all the people there. Lets just say that is no longer an issue. It used to be easy to get teams on LFT, now your lucky if 2 people want the same thing. If they do 1 is afk.
People log on, run their daily mish and then log off. That is AO right now for many (not all) people. I know many people that have stopped paying plan to come back when the new engine comes out. They just gave up waiting for it. Both of my paid accounts are now frozen for that exact reason.
I have tried to find a replacement for AO. The other games with superb graphics, scantily clad women, and super cool weapon/spell effects. Yet after playing them for just a little while, you know the whole game. No thinking, no strategy, no effort to put on armor or to trade skill. I love this game but I sure hate the way it is going right now.
I think a lot of people are just fed up with the lack of updates, lack of proven progress, lack of bug fixes (try entering the HQ or the OA mish shop), and a general lack of credibility. I am not saying their liars but it has been well documented that a graphics update was promised years ago. I don't blame Lindelu for past issues but she has to realize that we have been down this road before of a new engie for the 3rd or 4th time now. We have seen a few pics of heads and a 1 minute video with about 30 seconds of game screens. It just isn't enough.