Dok,
I have been hesitant to reply to you in these threads because you seem to be a celebrity in the community but I wanted to add one more piece of history that Slapshot has not added yet.
When the Rooks were in the hole the Bish had the overwhelming numbers with the Knights in usually distant second. Over time, and I am not sure what the fulcrum event was, the Rooks started to fight pretty well even though they were outnumbered and even got a few resets. Fast forward to near-today and the Rooks have numbers and the Bish seem to be in the hole.
My supposition that a lot of the people migrated from Bish to Rook when the Rooks started doing better and that as the Rooks started winning more and more the process excelerated. This is the only way I can explain such a sudden shift in who has numbers. I also know that a LOT of game players will do anything to see their names in lights so this fits with what I have seen in all kinds of different games.
The situation we have now I do think you are at least partially correct about. There is artifical tendency to smack on the Rooks. This is because not only did the rooks enjoy a numerical advantage for a long time that allowed them to consistently "win" but also because some rooks were posting trash talk about their ability to win because they are "uber" on the boards further raising the animosity towards themselves not that that advantage is erased.
Slapshots advice about alternative plane suggestions though I do still think holds merit though. I have had to do it many times myself and life continues and I have fun. As a knight now that the ENY limit is in and we seem to have the numerical advantage more often we are just as effected as the Rooks. Yet, somehow, as mentioned earlier in this thread the Knights have been able to buck the usual trend for the current map and actually gain ground.
One final question I have been wondering about, and I do not mean to imply anything at all, but why is it that when you returned to flying and came to AH did you decide to join Rooks even though at the time the boards were overflowing with "balance the numbers" threads?