We have two very divergent sets of play styles that are not mutually compatible.

In order for netters to succeed they need a relatively stable set of circumstances to prevail over the course of a set, regardless of how they choose to netgain. Significant divergence from those circumstances diminishes their playing experience and over time drives them away.

Conversely, the set of circumstance that will still allow fighters to have a successful set can vary widely. Significant divergence does not diminish their enjoyment of the game.

In simple terms, netters need to be able to sustain growth in land and NW without taking a lot of non-productive turns, whereas warring tags can have fun even if they have to restart multiple times or spend half the set as a parking lot. What this leads to is the chess time trying to share the gym with a bunch of dodgeball players. A war tag can essentially ruin a netting tags set in a matter of minutes with impunity, whereas a netting tag has no recourse to dissuade or punish war tags. Its the old joke about trying to wrestle in the mud with a pig - regardless if you are winning or losing, the pig is having more fun.

This is essentially what happened when TSO decided to drive ETFT off of the server, set after set TSO went after all of the netting tags that were not politically in bed with TSO. Even the sets when the netters won the war, they still did not get to net so the victory was hollow. The next set, back to war. This ultimately led to a mass exodus of netters and warrers. At some point, the mods stepped in with a bandaid solution that led to the current state of the server.

Now, once upon a time in a game called Earth2025, there were lots and lots of players (both real and fabricated) that played in a variety of alliances who all had different objectives and play styles. This large number of players allowed both warring and netting alliances to have the circumstances they wanted to succeed MOST of the time. This large number of alliances also made diplomacy a viable option. Even if diplomacy failed and the large pool of players failed to prevent you from falling outside of your desired playstyle - it was generally only for a short time. During most sets, netters competed with netters, and fighters competed with fighters - the dodgeball and chess Venn diagrams did not overlap very much. As the game has shrunk, these two circles have gotten pushed closer and closer to the same axis.

The problem with these two playstyles is that they don't really overlap - one overlays the other. Hitting chess players (one in particular) with dodge balls is fun. Getting your chess pieces knocked on the floor is not fun. As more and more chess players leave, the dodgeball players discover playing in an empty gym with the same 3-4 dodgeball players is not very much fun so they leave too. After a while, the gym starts emptying out and the smaller population becomes increasingly unsustainable.

I have no solution to offer here. Extinction is a natural process and it is a necessary part of evolution, as populations grow smaller their extinction becomes more imminent. I don't think is is a great deal of impetus within the community or within the dev team to radically change the way the game is played, and I am ok with that. I just think its important that everybody understands that what we have here is not a 'rules' problem, its an environmental problem. We have a small number of predators and prey crowded together on a very small island, and all of them have the option of swimming away any time they want. What we need to focus on his trying to get along and have as much fun as we can without ruining each others games until the island is no longer habitable. Maybe, the last person to leave could put up a nice statue before they go. ;)