Loyalty is a hallmark of friendship and dogs, I do not see how that attribute applies to a game. I am probably far less social than a GSP party maven though and likely have a much different definition of "friend".
My statement applies to real friends that I still maintain a relationship with outside of AO, not a random list of people that I only know by their nickname. When real friends (my definition) stop playing, you tend to notice. I probably do not make friends as easily or quickly as you do, I am more inclined to have few close friendships as opposed to many casual ones. Apples/Oranges, and I would note that I never said AO was dying.