Staff needs to admit some fault in this situation. Lack of communication, unjust heavy-handed bans, unpopular changes that drove people away... ie LD buffing nerf, Solo mission nerf, Promised group XP etc...
Trim the fat. This is not a paid environment. Axe live chat and maybe set up a discord style support like you had on IRC. Trim everything you can to save a few bucks. Asking people to donate for unjust and under utilized "wants" is wrong.
Unban everyone and restart with a clean slate. Remove the forums/discord/game bans being tied together.
Spend more time advertising. People that are coming back to relive a pastime are much more willing to donate. Put feelers out to tech sites that cover games about doing a review, maybe do an interview.
Finally... Launch 1.0 as it sits. Fix/adjust what's left after. Send a mass email letting people know 1.0 launched and everyone is unbanned. Make the point no more wipes will happen. I would bet there are 1000s of people that refuse to play due to wipes.
