Noticiing an interesting trend that poses some problems, but I have no idea what (or even IF) anything should be done about it.
It seems to me that the availability of multiple arenas has resulted in MORE imbalance, rather than less.
Those who are prone to liking numbers advantages (and there are a fair number who apparently do) are able to choose among the arenas to find one that gives them the biggest advantage. Those who dislike advantage dont balance them out, because, well, there arent that many of them.
Meanwhile, those who dislike being OUT-numbered also migrate. They'll leave an arena with a big disadvantage to go to one with closer numbers -- but that makes the disadvantaged side in the first arena even worse off than it was. There would be an arena where the low side is more nearly even, and the other arenas find that side laughably outnumbered.
So, multiple arenas create WIDER variations, where the hordes get "hordier" and the "we who are so few" get fewer. That means MORE DRAMTICALLY imbalanced sides. As individuals seek out the numerical environment they like most and avoid what they like least, less commonly preferred situations get more extreme. And the least preferred situation numerically is the bottom of a horde.
Since the change, it seems that low side numbers (which I see a lot of as a knight) are more extreme and hordes are more imbalanced, than they were before even when numbers were low in the old MA. I can't EVER recall seeing less than 10 pilots for a country, unless it was just before a reset. At the same time, it was downright rare for the high side to cross the 50% arena total threshold, but I've seen both repeatedly in MW.
IF these migration trends continue, what can be done? I have no idea, and dont pretend to offer one. But here's something to think about:
ENY was introduced expressly for the purpose of side balancing. If people complained about the ENY, way back when it was new, HT's stock answer was pretty much, "Well, you can always change countries." That was its explicit goal -- as ideally all countries would be roughly equal. But now, there just isnt any pressure to switch to a low numbered country -- unless you're one of the very few who specifically want to get that experience. Since most people DONT want to be outnumbered, more will leave the low side than will join it -- and we'll see a permanent numerical underclass.
That can't be a good thing for the game.
