I think the issue of player retention is a tricky one. What might keep one player (or drive another away), varies from player to player.
It will take a careful balance of new stuff, fixes, and balancing things out.
And folks have to realize that not everything they do will be something you like or currently want.
For instance they just released two new story arcs. I don't really care for them after having played them, but that's fine. I'm glad they were made as there has been a drought of lower level content for years. I've been asking for more higher level content. Others may not feel that is as important as balancing. (To be clear I don't think balancing is more important that new content at all as I don't think there are nearly as many folks worried about that as the forums portray.)
Bottom line is everyone won't always get what they want. Especially with the size of this team. And we need to keep our expectations realistic.