I'd say it's been going on a lot longer than that. Before CoH, it was Exteel, Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners ... A lot of upset and disappointed player bases have been left in NCSoft's wake.
NCSoft brags that it's the "world's premier publisher of MMORPGs." They just like to omit that they're the world's premier killer of MMORPGs, too.