"A not insignificant number of prominent theorycrafters now work at Blizzard, so that killed a number of class threads. Some other people quit and weren't replaced.
Later, as the final nail in the coffin, the site was sold to Ten Ton Hammer. They unsuccessfully tried to monetize the site and caused a mass exodus of forum members, effectively killing the community."
> https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/3n4fjv/why_did_elitist...
on the question "Why did Elitist Jerks die out?":
"A not insignificant number of prominent theorycrafters now work at Blizzard, so that killed a number of class threads. Some other people quit and weren't replaced.
Later, as the final nail in the coffin, the site was sold to Ten Ton Hammer. They unsuccessfully tried to monetize the site and caused a mass exodus of forum members, effectively killing the community."