This mod is filled with the same people and with no fresh influences. There are no new opinions, because they all get sh*t on instantly. The people I've convinced to try it all left because "They are always whining about the same things" and "they have too many unspoken rules" and "I cant make a unique character without paying 25 hundred million???". Simply put, the community has become a river that flows into itself; there is no new blood, and there are no new ideas. It's just different flavors of the same thing. Couple that with a lack of ambition from devs and players alike, and childish "he's cool, he's not" opinions from everyone left, and you have a metaphorical pool with water blacker than my skin (can I make that joke? am I gonna get banned?).
People are giving up trying, and are giving up excitement, almost as if they want to be angry every time they play, and they want to hate everyone every time they look at the forums. They say "it would be nice if we had some activity" and when I suggest we do some imperial expansion, I'm told that we don't do that around here. When someone *cough cough* is told that their faction sounds like Nazis cause that's what their faction was supposed to parallel in the vanilla game, instead of rolling with it and starting a socialist revolution and taking over Rhineland, they change their factions lore. And then they wonder why Rhineland is dead, and nothing happens there except RM getting double ganked by GMG and RHA to the point the Lawful leaders disband all their factions.
Also, nothing major happens. A Unioner revolution that took over Rhineland would be exciting, and would definitely generate activity. Kusari doing things that Empires actually do would be exciting. Liberty doing literally anything that America does IRL would not only be exciting, it would also be funny to see from an outside perspective, to be able to participate in those fiascos. This game parallels real life in vanilla, why not let it parallel in this mod? History is one of the most engaging things to look at, because it used to be the present, and before that it was the future. We can use these kinds of things to our advantage.
Finally, everyone sugarcoats and waters-down too much. It almost hurts to watch at this point. "We don't like you because you don't like how many pirates there are" no you don't like that I would even SUGGEST that the sheer numbers of pirates that afk around ore-fields waiting for traders would chase away new people trying to make money. Just say that you know that everyone likes to play pirates, and that you do too. "We don't like you because you choose to ignore the problems in the community, and bring up stupid fixes to them that could never work" no you don't like that I challenge your nearly predetermined beliefs and that I don't care who hates who for what reason. Just say that you don't want to change from the way things are. "We don't like you because you're part of bad factions" factions are factions. I know you don't like Wesker or Nepotu depending on which side of THAT you're on, but maybe you're missing some of the fun. Just because you see everyone who wins against you as a sweaty no-lifer who has a violent dislike for everyone doesn't mean that other people cant make the friends and enemies they want. Just say that you don't like that I don't know the social politics of this community. Stop half-lying. Who actually cares whether someone is offended or not? It's a game that's supposed to look like real life. People get mad, people get butthurt, people don't like what other people say. Big deal. Grow a pair, and click on a different tab.
TL;DR You all act like you've been in your midlife crisis for 50+ years.