I think honestly we should ignore about 30 percent of the player base that now make this mod popular and not get them what they want.
Let us be honest. Mount and Blade itself got popular because of "goons." When it first came out no one even heard of it. A goon advertised it on GAMES and it turned into a gold thread of awesomeness. Armagan the creator of Mount and Blade bought an account and became a "Goon" because of the hype it generated. If it wasn't for all of that we would not even have a Warband.
ATS are GREAT guys and all but as the player base grows you need to let other people open up servers. People willing to pay for it and accept donations just like the ATS crew. Let your game grow for crying out loud.
Try not to let certain individuals keep power hold over a mod you developed claiming "HEY I PAY FOR THE SERVERS SO YOU CAN GET FUCKED..." yet when people ask to host new servers they freak out and lobby against it. It is pretty childish to be honest. Believe me I am pretty mature I know childish when I see it.
I might not be a role player like most of your player base.
Hey I know a lot of you played Darkfall so post your info here.
Name: EyeBeat Women
Clans: Awful Company on EU1 where I was an underling captain. On NA1 I was a leader with others on Goon Squad. Then I headed back to Awful Company Part Deux.