I know this topic has been a long debate, but I figured I'd put my own twist on it.

I joined TB a really long time ago, here's my old profile . vvv
http://forum.toribash.com/member.php?u=2599577

I'm pretty sure I found it on YouTube when it was all the rage, and all the big names were playing it, with Markiplier probably being the biggest. There were also the YouTubers who had a series of these Toribash LPs going, such as NerdCubed and ZeRoyalViking.

So... what happened?

Toribash was always an on and off game for me, I'd get really into playing it for a few months only to get bored of it and stop playing, and this would go on and on until it really became obsolete.
When I originally came back in late 2017/ early 2018 to see how it was doing, I was a little surprised to find that Toribash was a lot less active than just a few years prior. Fewer people were on Toribash, the forum was a lote more quiet than what I remembered, and overall just a lot more different than it used to be.
I want to say that YouTube was one of the few reasons Toribash gained its popularity, but now that those YouTubers don't make Toribash videos anymore, Toribash lost some of it's players who likely made an account just because the YouTuber they liked played.
And in my subjective opinion, too many changes have been made since I first joined. One of the most prominent ones I can think of is when the GMs became the ES. I'm pretty sure that change was made for a reason, but I never really understood why they did it.

This post is probably a mess, but I think it covers why I along with others lost interest in TB. What do you think?

There are so many factors that go into this.

Every indie game has its fall sooner or later (unless they expand their dev team accordingly) simply because one/few developers can't keep adding content consistently to keep the game relevant. Eventually it gets to the point where people leave because they believe they explored everything there is to the game, which can be done fairly quickly in Toribash. Lack of updates plays a huge part in why this game has lost most of the players.

Another reason is simply unpopular genre. Majority of gamers, particularly kids, prefer fast phased games full of action, which is why Fortnite is popping off right now. Toribash is like an opposite of that. At the peek of Toribash popularity you would most likely spend 90% of the time waiting in a queue to play, which doesn't appeal to anyone, so those who weren't interested in community side of things simply couldn't bare the wait.

Finally, the learning curve is too steep, and with alts being able to roam in beginner servers the learning curve is even worse. I can see how most people who find this game end up quitting in first hour of gameplay due to lack of understanding of the physics. This sort of falls back into the "unpopular genre" category, the game simply doesn't appeal to large masses of gamers.

I could probably ramble on and on about why TB lost its playerbase, but i'll wrap it up right here, it simply doesn't appeal to "average gamer"

I think the lack of advertising is one of the main reasons toribash is dying.
I mean come on, the game didn't get a trailer since 4.8 and the main website page contain the trailer of TB 3.7.dfuq?
I mean, they could just make a video comp for a new TB trailer or hire a pro vfx artist to do it. A little steam advertisement wouldn't hurt as well.

To put it simply. Nabi should take some responsibility

I'm an old player too, from 2009, and I think Nabi should implement a PR team of people to get active on social media and stuff, I once wrote for the "toribash blog", which seemed to at least be an effort at getting some social activity out there.

you know what, looking into this i noticed that maybe they don't care if toribash die.why?
well as i have seen some gifs of tb next recently it seems that the came will probably come out in early 2019 or a little before that. so i think they are going to keep calm untill tb next is out.

yeah, im pretty sure theyve just ditched the old tb and are focusing on the new version (client i guess? idk)

kinda doesnt seem right that theyd just stop caring tho imho about the version that tb has built off of for years

Well the next ver won't be that much different. It's basically TB with better graphics and some things the players always wanted. Consider ir a massive update.
The current TB is probably going to stay a thing for those who want some nostalgic feeling in the future.
PS: it's really wired how TB steam player based fell off by more than 90% when the game is still getting Berry positive reviews

You basically joined when toribash was introduced to steam I believe, hence the jump in popularity and the reason a lot of big YouTubers tried playing it, toribash is basically the same activity more or less before the steam addition,

Most steam players quit pretty quickly due to learning curve and all.

Well I found to on steam so yea.
Tho when I look back at people who did video edits for the game, the hype it was getting, the limits of the game were getting pushed more than today.
Idk i wasn't there to really have the right to judge

People keep saying advertisement is an issue and it's just not true at all. Due to game's learning curve 99% of players quit in first hours of gameplay, so advertisement doesn't help the slightest.

To have successful advertising campaign the game has to be extremely friendly to beginners.