...siege after dying can easily be populated again, the only thing stopping us is ourselves.
Agree to disagree. With the current rotation where we jump around from 2 or so good siege maps in a row, to an at least 1 hour conquest map, then to another good ole siege map, and then to a siege-turned-conquest map which sucks with 30 second defense respawns... NA2 just isn't siege anymore. The only people that join the server and stick around for any extended period of time are those that simply play this game for fun. Too many people are obsessed with the grind-y aspects of this mod (with good reason... the higher level you get the better you get, the better you get the more fun you can have... no one wants to be a level 15 peasant for too long) since being at a low level, or not having so many looms, proves to be a huge disadvantage. Maybe we can muster 5 or so siege fans who couldn't care less if siege even gave xp or gold. Well, that is a whopping 5 people. Everyone else who shows up to both have fun, and of course get their reward of xp/gold. The current rotation is absolutely horrid and scares away any who come for the rewards. Got a multiplier after a couple of the siege maps? Great, because now you will be stuck on defense on a siege-turned-conquest map where you are pretty much guaranteed to lose. And what comes after that loss? A real conquest map, with at least 2 full 30 minute rounds (hurray perma x2!). Then as if that vicious cycle isn't bad enough, there is the literally broken conquest map that never ends (Shariz, I think its name was).
Whenever people are stuck on a conquest map and have to deal with an hour of x2, they more often than not leave. Whenever people get stuck on the defending side in a siege-turned-conquest map with an x5 up until then, they will probably leave out of pure rage due to their multi being "stolen." Lastly, whenever Shariz comes around, MAYBE people will play through the first round (probably only those with high enough multipliers), but since it can't end everyone inevitably leaves if no admins can be contacted quickly enough to change the map. People won't even stick around to wait for an admin since no xp is given once the timer runs out. This mod encourages getting the most xp/gold as quickly as possible since it only makes the game better down the road, and with such an unstable rotation, it is no wonder people have all but abandoned NA2. At least in NA1 if you are stuck on the losing team, there is always the hope for valor (which almost never happens in a fully drawn-out siege round), or the chance that next map (which is never too long away) you will be on the winning side. If you are stuck on an x2 on a conquest map, there is neither hope of being on the winning team or getting valor for at least 30 minutes. Not to mention that in NA1 you can win a round an start improving your multiplier within minutes. If you join and siege is on a conquest map, you are gonna be waiting a good long while to increase the multi... almost no one joins NA2 while a conquest map is on.
Back when conquest was removed from NA2, we at least got the server up and running most nights during primetime and could keep it going for a good 2 hours, 3 if lucky. And that was plenty, really. True that it was a shame you couldn't just hop on whenever you wanted to enjoy some siege action, it was still far better than no siege at all. Besides, not many of us play more than 2 or 3 hours a day (I hope so, anyways), so that was all the time you needed to get your daily crpg fix. Nowadays... you know how it is. Maybe if a whole clan, or an organized NA1 to NA2 migration occurs, siege can get started up. However, it dies out sooner than ever before for the above reasons. People are willing to play siege, but people are unfortunately not willing to part with their sweet, sweet xp.
