However, I think it's spiraling the drain. The merge-mining fad I think finally did it in. It not only devalues newly mined coins but devalued everything that long time miners have worked for and it encourages the mine-and-immediately-sell mindset.
It will come back as usual. Merged mining has nothing to do with that. If you used to get 1 VTC you are still getting 1 VTC.