IIRC at first we had much smaller caps (and small maps) to split the player's base evenly into all arenas. The idea was to rather have 4 smaller but working communities, than single and large but non working.
Due to complaints, late war arena caps were increased, and so we got what we have. Tuesday's Titanic is maybe a hint to what's coming (no caps), and maybe not.
I still believe it was worth the try. We wouldn't know if it works or not without trying.