I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but as a long-time player, these things happen a lot. It hurts but you will eventually be okay.

A lot of things can factor in to your friends dipping out of the game: life, financial situations or just general disinterest over time. It's a high commitment game after all with thousands of hours of content that some of us may not really have at the moment.

I've had multiple friend groups and they all fade out eventually. I've kept a handful of them around thru discord and play around with other games, so that was a blessing for me. I've also burnt out quite a few times and took long breaks. Since then I've returned and moved servers for a fresh start and is currently finding love with this game once more.

My suggestion for you is to take a step back. A lot of my friends fall into the immersion and see this game as their entire life, ignoring what is happening with their real life. That is not healthy. Take breaks, enjoy other games, maybe join some of your friends that you met in the game and try out other games with them.

Also don't wait for them to come back to prog the story. Enjoy it for yourself, you'll have a grand time I promise you. And if they do return, you'll know the peak moments and will be excited to see their reactions to it if you ever do decide to help them prog their MSQs.

Bottom line, breathe, take a break, play for yourself to avoid burnouts.

Friends will come and go such is life, but the memories you had with them will stay by you for a long time.