I think I have an idea of what you're speaking of. The issue is early on (within six months), you have too many people and not enough space. Even what it's at was more than a bit crowded when w7 started. (I think the far corners weren't heavily occupied.) But a lot of people, as usual, quit the game due to being raided, killed, bored, whatever, and so you get the same world that feels completely empty because of all the dead and inactive claims around. I felt the same way in w3 when I started, it was twice the size (square area) than it is now, and no more people playing than now, I don't think. There's just not going to be a "happy" place for world size without going into a bunch of instancing and other modern MMO tools that feel arbitrary and effectively sequester players into a limited space. (it also doesn't help that there's now six layers for players to live on instead of just the surface.)
Saxony4 wrote:Smaller world with 300-500 people is not going to go down well, you're gunna have people getting robbed, killed, and griefed left and right because it's easier to come into contact with someone and their valuables.
How about 1500 in a 5x5 area? That's what w5 was like the first month. It was defeinitely fun, but only the dominant got established (and then had to move because the server ate it).
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