there was a lot of players until the release of 2142 patch 1.4
It broke the servers essentially, since the new client wouldnt work after patching to 1.4
Most of my friends ( and prolly the public too ) thought with the release of 1.4 (2142) that some kind of client patch was required - when in reality the clients were fine, only the servers needed the MD5 hash reconfigured to work with the 2142 1.4 clients.
People are slowly filtering back, but most people using computers are pretty stupid when it comes to stuf like this so they are basicly waiting for a new patch.  Ive spread the word that FS 1.1 is not broke and to come play , but my feild of influence is limited.  When FS 1.2 is released there will be a groundswell of people coming back, as they still think the next patch is required.
be patient, this things gonna explode with the release of 1.2 ... I will put money on it .