We very much feel when changes in the community happen.
We monitor server activity every day (especially at weekends), we compare monthly new backers constantly with previous months, etc.
Here's my take on it (I've been holding off a bit to see what you guys had in mind - thanks for posting!).
The past few weeks we've had several nasty server crash issues, especially at high loads i.e. during events (this is possibly fixed now - the tests this weekend will reveal if it is). This has caused a growing disinterest which is very natural (we're just as frustrated when the server crash as you guys). We've also had about 50% less new backers the past month compared to the three previous months which were all record months for us - this means less new blood into the alpha that you've perhaps gotten used to - this could be seen as a decline in numbers (although it is really a decline in backers).
There is also the ongoing Steam summer sale which always draws a lot of guys into other games. Then there is the fact that the summer itself has kicked off. People tend to play less during the summer. Then there is the general fatigue of the alpha - we realize this and thank you for your posts regarding it. Many of you who experience the fatigue have spent hundreds of hours in the alpha - and hundreds of hours in a game without it feeling repetitive is no easy task (it happens to most games). Add to that that this is an incomplete, crashing, buggy, glitchy alpha and the drop off rate will naturally be even higher.
All of the above plays into what you guys are currently experiencing. It is not a set thing (at least I don't think it is). Fancy and myself have spent quite a few hours discussing game design the past few days thanks to this post so thank you for putting it in focus.
Most of our areas are very open ones - the capture areas and the fences (as pretty much everything else) is there because that was where it was back then. Being bound to the historical accuracy which we strive for, it is not possible for us to remove a fenceline at a particular position, nor is it possible to move the capture area a great deal (wouldn't be properly representing the fighting and the objectives of the fighting that took place there if we did). We'll look into giving projectiles a better chance at penetrating the wood fences as we too feel they are currently eating too many shots. We will also look into possibly changing some of the map boundaries slightly but we don't believe this will have a giant effect on the actual tactics of the areas themselves. The thing about the capture zone is that it is sometimes being seen more as THE objective by the players than AN objective. The capture area is there to ensure the defending team can't sit and hide somewhere not at all meant for fighting, for the possibility of a quick win by the attackers and for ensuring the tactical advancements are made with more thought put into them than just "we should kill those guys". It is just as good to win on morale - this can be done by outflanking the defenders (especially if they make mistakes and don't shift along your own forces). We're currently considering how to better convey this to the players as we feel like some will only see the capture area icon and go for that no matter what each time they attack. A successful attack can be both an actual push to the cap area AND an effective flank move where you manage to kill a great deal of the defenders before you are overcome (defenders always having lower morale than the attackers).
On a somewhat similar note:
We're currently looking into possibly implementing end game events as we feel like the endings of the skirmish areas currently often do not end as we'd like it to end. While this is not something that has been brought up by any of you, we think it an integral part of the gameplay experience of winning/losing a match.
Below is the WIP design description:
Game ending events:Currently there is too much of a disconnect between the outcome of a match and the reality for the players (think standing in a perfectly fine line as a defender and then you suddenly lose because one guy somewhere got killed and lost you the last bit of morale - “why did we lose? We’re still all (mostly) here in perfectly fine fighting condition.”).
Last Stand
Defender reaches 0 morale: Last stand is activated. This means every dead person is spawned right away but no more respawns are available after. The round ends when the match timer runs out or the attacker has captured the area or killed all defenders.
Final Push
Attacker reaches 0 morale: Final push is activated. This makes respawning for the attackers cost 0 morale but changes the timer on the round from, for instance, 22 mins remaining to 3 minutes remaining. Round ends when area is captured or the defenders has gone through their last respawns in their last stand.
- Trusty