Subjective, really.

Being an officer doesn't have to be it's own reward. As in the email, the person felt appreciated and wanted at some point but lost the drive when certain problems arose.

I've been both an officer and a raid leader; I've helped sort out guild-related problems, I've setup and managed raids. I was, in essence, the guild leaders right-hand man. I was apart of the guild as much as it was apart of me.

Things change, however. I'm no longer in said guild and have no real desire to lead raids or be any more than some casual advisor. It can be fun but it can also be very tiring, very ungratifying work with very little reward: That's generally what burns people out from the positions in the first place.

Some people never get this feeling, however. I feel it's different when people come and go from a guild or you're gone for periods of a time (like the emailer, in this case) and can't be active as much as you may have once be. If you're a constant part of a guild that hardly ever changes is, you may never see these problems at all.