Due to RL my free time is admittedly fleeting. But I still have time to play generally casual games occassionally. So why is it I do not play CF instead of them?

As I posted on the other site, at the end of my time playing CF, I found large portions of CF tedious and ultimately repetitive. I would have moments of fun, but those became increasingly sparse over time, and it took a lot of hours to even get to the point where I had those moments. (For me, I really only enjoy the hero range)

The question became was I willing to put in the investment to hero a char to play in the current environment. The answer became a no. Without a sizable enough playerbase, the flaws of CF became more glaring to me. Getting into a PK with the same pool of 3 enemies literally every night for a month just lost appeal. PVE only gets you so far when you've done a lot of things already.

The appeal of CF, on all levels, be it RP or PK, is a social one which requires a decent society to engage with.

I'm not saying an increased PB is a fix for the root cause for all players, but I think a lot of the reasons people left CF (besides RL constraints) is the game was not as fun and so harder to justify the time commitment for. Who really cares that they can't have 30 edges anymore? What good is even having a char with 30 edges and a set of legendary gear when there is nobody to do anything with? Edges and gear accumulation was never an end game. People didn't hit 25 or 30 edges, do an eq freeze and say, well, I won CF, and delete and start over.

More players = a better environment, which means some of the other flaws of CF are no longer as glaring.

Sure, there are still flaws in CF's design, administration and in certain players' behavior and responses to that behavior (yay looting based meltdowns!). All multi player games have flaws like this though. People have lots of reasons they claim they left, but I think a lot of that comes down to the PB didn't provide enough of an enjoyable environment to remain playing in spite of that player's issues with CF, be it mechanics, Imms or other players. In the balancing act of whether to commit time to CF, there is a line we all have where playerbase/environment provides enough of a positive to act as a counterweight to the negatives we see in CF.

I have no idea what would entice people to roll a char, but I know that when most do, they may not stay for long if they see online users of 0-10. Cause while Thera still exists, the environment does not. New areas, new races, new classes. They don't matter as much. CF already has a pretty well developed and functional foundation. New stuff is nice and all, and I'm not discrediting the work and effort Imms put into them. But CF really is only as fun as its playerbase permits it to be.