I don't have any real suggestions to this one, but I can answer to Guppy.
Like Guppy said, the problem with the CT is; 1) nobody has a clear idea in what the CT should be, and also, even if someone has bold intentions and clear ideas, 2) they don't have any direct control or authority over the CT to see it through.
I was around when the CT was first created.
At first, a lot of people like me considered that the CT could provide a material alternative to what the MA was. This group of people envisioned the CT as a "Historical" arena. One with more cooperation, lot of structuring, people organized into flights, regular missions, and etc.. You could say that it might have been something like the predecessor to the official ToD idea HTC has been promoting.
However, other people saw the CT as a Axis vs Allies arena. It would be different from the MA in that it was emphasized clearly on A2A fighting, with a lot of less field captures.
The third group of people, saw the CT as a MA with smaller numbers and limited plane sets. Essentially the same gameplay as the MA in the "anything goes" line of thought.
Over the years, all of those three various views have been tested out in variations. There was a lot of experimentations. In the earlier days, the CT CMs have tried implementing 'general objectives' for certain terrains, to promote certain historical tendencies to be recreated in the setup. They've tried locking down fields so it can't be captured. They've tried the all-out MA style of play, too.
All of them had good points and bad points, but one thing was certain; the AH system was fundamentally limited, and without a certain amount of avid and voluntary participation from the players, the gameplay cannot be something different from the MA.
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I'm not a mechanist, who thinks a certain material environment will automatically create certain tendencies. But I also detest metaphysics, laying blame to the individual.
The metaphysical thought is not uncommon even in the MA. People blame the individual for creating hordes or loving superplanes or doing cowardly stuff. They say that the individual must become a better pilot and start seeing and doing stuff which they usually would not do, and then, one day, the MA will be all better. That's basically the same logic as saying that humanity can be saved when everybody on the planet suddenly starts acting like a saint. Yeah, right, let's hope 6 billion people will one day all become good people, maybe another million years of evolution would make that possible.
I'm a materialist. I view the environment as being the key determining factor for people's behaviors. The individual mindset is not unimportant, but when it comes to making decisions, more often than not, people will prefer what is currently best for them under certain conditions.
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That's what's happened to the CT. AH, is at heart, a very simple game, at least in terms of structuring. The main download offers only a certain module of compatibility between the players, and that's it. It offers a certain type of strategically rigged terrain, and whatever the gamers do in it is up to them.
However, the players actions are free only upto what is possible in the game. We have a "kill-town, capture field" system in place. We also have a very simple mission creating system in place. However, we don't have any other kind of supplementary systems to refine the gameplay to our needs.
So, when the CT was envisioned as a real historic alternative for the players, the immediate problem was that you can't have any real historic fights in the CT. For one thing, the numbers were too limited. The CT regulars hoped that if the CT became fun enough, numbers would steadily rise, which never happened. (at one time, I've seen as many as 60~70 people, but that was about it)
So, in order to create a CT that could recreate the intensity of a typical WW2 situation, all of the missing systems that were needed, would have to be filled in by the players with their voluntary sacrifice and participation.
Example:
If we wanted to a great WW2 style "8th AF vs the Luftwaffe" engagement, we would need people to man buffs, organized escort activities, organized interceptor activity, and basic synchronization between those two hostile sides, so people don't waste time trying to find another for hours.
We're missing the system to place AI buff action, we don't have any host-triggered squad creation, nor any kind of strategic calculation system. Since all of these are missing, the players have to sacrifice themselves and organize it on a voluntary basis. Some people have to fly buffs, some 'leader' type of individual must organize the escort fighters, and another 'leader' would have to organize the interceptor fighters.
The problem is, this has to be done everyday. It's like the Special Events or Tour of Duty programs where people would voluntarily organize stuff to have a great time - but it's gotta be done everyday in the CT. The CT is a regular arena, not like the SEA or (player-organized)ToD which happens only once a week or month.
Naturally, not even the CT staffers, which is also a voluntary position, can deal with that kind of workload. All of that workload, should be handled by the game system itself, but its not. Woops, there goes the first idea on what the CT should be. People cannot go further than how the system is created. At least, not over a certain duration.
Nor do the CT staffers have any kind of real authority over the players to enforce a change. They are after all, in the same ranks as us. Some changes, or ideas, need to be forcibly implemented and enforced, until it becomes the norm, and over time people finally realize that it makes sense, and find the fun in it.
However, CT staff doesn't have that power. They can't make sure of anything, they can't promise anything, and they cannot restrict anything. The only thing they can do, is meddle with the perimeters of the Arena Settings. Anything outside that, any 'gameplay decision', is out of their authority.
So, now the CT faces two problems.
The first one is that the main system of AH is so limited, that it cannot support any kind of real structuring or organizing to recreate the historical intensity. Everything must be done by the voluntary player, which cannot become a regular thing unless the voluntary player gets a job at HTC and makes it his work to organize other players.
The second one is that the CT staff are lame-ducks. (Sorry guys, but this wasn't a personal insult) The only authority they have is map/setup selection and arena settings. They can't enforce any kind of different gameplay at all.
Thus, with the above two conditions at work, it is only natural that the CT becomes a mini MA. That's how the game is made.
With the current game system in place, no matter what you do, if you throw in many people inside the arena, they will start playing as if the were in the MA. That's a fact. It's not about the individual, but it's about how the system is structured.
The terrain system is made like this. It starts out with certain setups.
And then people come in. They fly for a while, and they think its ok.. but they quickly want more planes in it. They want field captures. They want dar back. They want all of the gameplay possible in the MA.
They want all of that, not because they are dweebs or are selfish, but because nothing else is available. They might want real squad action, or huge formations of buffs. Or maybe a great big tank battle through the plains of Kursk, or a death duel in the city of Stalingrad. They might like that - if the CT can ever show them that. But the CT can't. Nobody has that kind of time, authority, or manpower to organize a great historic fight in the CT.
So, people fly for a while in the CT, but they don't have anything really different from the MA. So if the CT doesn't give them at least as much action the MA can give them, then people ignore the CT.
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It's a humongous LOSE-LOSE scenario.
1. If the CT staff do not give the players the MA type of gameplay, then there isn't anything else they can give. It takes a lot of time and voluntary will to make the fights in the CT great historic fun, and the players certainly don't care about that, nor do the CT staff have that much free time/authority in their hands. The AH system is too limited to make a CT a really different place. So, people start to get bored of the quiet, stagnant gameplay of the CT and stop comming.
2. However, if the CT staff allows all of that in the CT, then the CT is now nothing more than a mini-MA with limited planes. Why would anyone come to the CT when they can go to the MA and play the exact same thing in a larger scale?
Add to that fact that the recent upgrade to AH2 got rid of many of the excellent terrains we used to have, and you have your answer in why the CT is failing. In my case, I am pretty much disappointed in the CT because I can't really feel any of the historic aura the CT might have offered. The only thing that kept me coming here was the different views. I simply loved Tunisia. I loved Battle of Britain, too.
Woops, all gone. AH2. No maps yet.
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