Dedalos, someone might listen to what you have to say if there was any content higher than too dumb for words included...it's not happening now. You're an arcade xbox wannabe ace fighter pile-it, enjoy yourself, nobody is telling you not to. Those that want to do something different to get away from the arcade fly the super uber duper red icon horde vacuum are doing so in the AvA.
So what if there aren't 3 or 4 hundred other clowns in there? More than 1 person who piped in on this discussion have whined elsewhere about things like arena caps, hordes, gang bangs, ENY, and what they think isn't realistic about getting 1 shot to the tower from some dweeb several thousand feet away in whatever it was. The AvA offers exactly what it should, historical setups with limited plane sets, and as much realistic aerial combat simulation as the programming code and computer technology allows without costing each person $100,000 for a home simulation system.
There has always been a low number of people interested in the AvA, and doing things the way a few in this discussion mentioned didn't increase the numbers of regulars. But the no enemy icons and a new map created specifically for the AvA has brought about more interest. Before the change to no enemy icons there was much less interest, more suitable maps will help improve the setups and therefore increase the numbers. It's not supposed to be like the main arenas.