NA officials.... I'd like to set some things straight for the record.
Truthfully they came about because there was a large outcry about how I was either handling or not handling the only populated NA servers. When officials came online, the people who were boycotting community thought it would solve all their problems...when really it just solved my poor admin picks. Zealot ran a campaign to replace the Community Servers with a "fair" environment, and he won. Then he quit the game like I said he would and you guys were stuck with fair admins, but a poor gaming experience. Majority of those who boycotted the origional NA servers are mostly gone now...go figure.
Extended Rant:
Some people were rightfully upset with the badmins *I wont mention* that I had employed, and there was some unwarranted judgments about my involvement in strategus affecting how I managed a server. The biggest example of which is that the Community Servers were deemed ATS servers when only 1/4 of the Admin List actually being ATS. The real involvment ATS had was behind the scenes, they helped me*A leader of ATS* make maps, update files, pay the bill when people didnt donate....ect.
Today, Occitan is doing most of the dirty work instead of ATS....And only 1/7 of the Admins are actually ATS.
Now, as for the topic of Population Split:
I've been around since day 1 of native and day 4 of C-RPG NA servers...and have either helped manage or been the manager of those servers with the exception of the 6 month lifespan of officials. Through my entire time in c-rpg and native I have been against competing servers when a population is on the decline. That's why I was against official servers before they came online.
Though I no longer really play c-rpg, nor do I play strategus *after my crushing/humiliating death to everyone*, I now think officials are still needed more than ever, and not just for strategus.
I believe and with good reason, that I can provide a better experience for everyone on the Community Servers, more so than any other server. *mostly because no one else wants to put in the time required*. This will continuously make the Community popularity grow. But, mistakes will be made along the way. This is a free game and there are no paid professionals managing this. There's a saying, "You get what you pay for," which has always been especially true for C-RPG. So when mistakes are made, and I'm directing this part towards those who walk the rule breaking line often, you'll need other places to play until those mistakes are rectified.
Since the popularity on community servers has and will continue to grow. I present the following solution for the NA player split, but before you read it, please identify the problems I tend to address:
A. People who prefer smaller servers
B. People who prefer larger servers
C. People who prefer quality maps
D. People who prefer a more involved moderator team
E. People who would like to get involved with server management.
F. Donators who want more for their money beyond just a place to play
To solve these issues, get this,
I'd like to open up another server and actually discourage play on Officials except for Strategus and emergency purposes. The additional server would be a NA Community 3 (40 man Battle).
The Current Battle Server (NA Community 1) would be bumped up to 120 slots.
This in turn will let those who like small battles find a great place to play, and encourage everyone else to play in one place without a split community. All other issues are automatically resolved for the most part with Community Servers being online.
I apologize if this came accross as being arrogant or cocky. Its just my opinion...if you don't like it you can still play on the community servers, thats your right, just bash me here on the forums not on the servers while I admin.