My opinion on why the game has constantly been losing players

[Sanctions]

Maybe Discovery should become more grind-to-win game. Add t1-t2-t3 versions of the weapons,shields and make them very hard to get
maybe %15 more dps %15 more range %15 more speed etc, Make t2 drop from pve events and upgrade them to t3 with enough resources via pobs or blueprints etc

There is also problem with community, i seen many newbies leaving becuase of toxic veteran players who vomit their hate to newbies just because they dont like what they suggest

>t1-t2-t3
That will disattract people even more. If you're forced to grind something to be competitive, then it's just something wrong, not as this game was intent to be played.
>bad toxic vets
It's a normal behavior though, before proposing various changes, one has to be experienced enough in the first place.
This environment is not that harsh to newbies, especially compared to some hardcore communities. Such things even make you stronger, getting power through overcoming.