warster,

do not make the error of comparing one set of express against one set of ffa, that it clearly ridiculous
running sixteen allx countries can not compare to eight weeks of express
we agree on one thing. on ffa and alliance if there is no war
you have six weeks of waiting, your words not mine, (i would have said the mind numbing tedium of empty netting) but you said waiting
72 days of sitting around waiting for something to happen for the six days at most of enjoyment in a war

in the waiting six weeks of ffa and alliance when there is no war and nothing but waiting for days on end
on express you will have waged six intense sets and if you use your spies and forum posts well perhaps
exposed two cheating scandals
here if you play long enough and well enough
and you couple that with diligent detective play
you eventually have a hand in killing off the site's largest clan

there is no such opportunity on ffa or alliance or primary for that matter
the pace of the game on express makes pattern detection and cheater exposure so much easier because of the volume of data
six sets of ffa takes a year
pattern cheating is much harder to detect in such an environment
and keeping the interest and suspicion of the community over five sets of ffa would be nearly impossible
just for example look at the JJ situation. numerous deletions over consecutive sets in ffa would take half a year and no one would care, hear it takes less than a year.

another benefit express enjoys over ffa and alliance is that the entire community is on the same action calendar
two days off, two days of waiting to grow, and three intense days of play followed by a climactic finish
ffa does not enjoy the same synchronization
no finish in ffa or alliance can ever compete with the express
finish where 20% of the turns are available for play in the last five minutes and mush of the community is on line
although as a side note i think that the move to sundays and the oct10 changes have slightly diminished that ending.
maybe a move back to monday is in order for the duration of the nfl season

warster, i understand your built-in bias against this server, many vets share the bias. Fordy, HWCNG, llaar, dunder DM have all come on at some point in the last few months and said that they do not care about this server at all. They call it a worthless empty server. You volunteer here to help the site as a whole not because of any particular appreciation of the server. just to be clear i appreciate your volunteered time and efforts.
but many do not share that bias.

here you choose your alliances and friends, in clans you join an organization where others you have not chosen represent you
on ffa your reputation can be ruined by the actions of others
here if you are branded a liar and a cheat it is your own fault

i for one am very glad i chose to spend my play time and energy on this server instead of the others