Originally posted by Arlo
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a penalty even. The detractors like to think of it that way. Being "punished" for being fanatically loyal to a chesspiece.
I'd call it incentive. Incentive to realize the MA is a game ... not a war. And a "chesspiece" is a jersey .... not a uniform. And players will move now because of this. And if a player is not one of the ones willing to change sides to balance the arena, that player is free to be stubborn about it. Just as free as he or she is to talk thier boyfriends or girlfriends into changing sides with them. 
My main issue with the whole "change sides to even numbers" philosophy is that many of us have flown with many of the others on our "teams" for years and have developed a large network of people we know and trust to fly with. I don't want to see them or me deciding to go to another side to balance a temporary inequity in the arena only to be locked in when the imbalance shifts to another side, potentially even the one they went to.
While I understand the desire to prevent the hordes, I also struggle with the frustration of facing the opposition on some other part of the map where I am out-numbered and forced to fly something other than what I want to fly given the local situation. So far it hasn't been a major problem, but I have muttered under my breath a few times.
Having been overseas with the Army for the last year, I am admittedly un-informed about what has been happening in the areana lately. When I left, the Rook Joint Ops (RJOs) were a happening event when the rooks mustered a horde for a night of coordinated missions once a month. I've read some things in this thread that make it seem like more of a weekly occurance. These are well coordinated, planned events with multiple squads (often 10 or more) acting under the command of one squad. This command rotates through the squads and a great time is had by all. The success of these RJOs reinforces the friendships and trust the members of these squads have for each other and make it even less desirable to switch sides - even for a short time. I have often wondered that I have seen nothing similar from the other sides in response to the RJOs.
The answer might be the disparity in number of established squads. I have recently begun linking AH squads on my netaces site. As I have gone through listing them, an interesting trend has begun to show. After going through the first 48 squads with websites, 22 are Rook, 17 are Knight, and only 9 are Bish. While having a website isn't the only thing that indicates a squad is active, it is certainly an indicator and shows a disparity that could be corrected by limiting new squad formations to countries which are understrength. This would not be a short term solution, but might, as time wears on, cause people interested in forming new squads to form them in the countries that need them.
Jeez, I've written a book so I'm gonna stop. Just my $.25
Hammer
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