I think you may be making it overly complicated . Way back when , the community consisted mostly of a bunch of history buffs . The kind of guys that at an airshow are over looking at the warbirds , waiting patiently for the jets do be done . Feeling that surge of endorphins and adrenaline when they hear that prop connected to a reciprocating engine . The whine of a merlin , either Packard or Rolls . The vibration in your chest from a big radial hooked to a paddle blade . The wealth of detailed knowledge . Today you have people that have grown up gaming . That could not tell you who Butch O'Hare is . Tell you what a Thatch weave is and why it was important . Have never read the description of Saburo Sakae's epic struggle to remain alive as he rtb'ed after making the near fatal mistake of confusing an Avenger with a Wildcat . I also totally agree with Dan . A place is needed in the mains where activity can be concentrated especially during off peak hours . Not the DA , but in the mains .
Way back when a
small number of guys knew each other and shared a common love of HISTORY.....queue the deep voice over reverb echo and bring up the blood stirring background music.
Before Dunbars number is reached your small number of people all know each other and think of each other as a community of freinds\family\common interests. Once it is exceeded new small groups form per human nature (tribalism, squads) and
Us vs.Them is the norm. Then comes the whizzing matches and hard feelings on ch200 because of competition for status and simply two guys don't know each other, so don't like the way each other plays the game.
Why do you think so many people thought of shane and the muppets as ^holes and not as the accomplished paragons of AH virtue the two of you thought you were holding yourselves out as. How many times can you tell an average normal fun seeking person he is garbage before he brings a hoard back and annihilates you? Who is the better man. The one who does not respect that others are what they are and taunts them for it, or the one who can no longer take a bully insulting him and organises all of the geeks to destroy a single bully? Both of you loose in the end.
Grizz recently realized that the game is about everyones special interests and how they freely express those interests. As long as everyone feels free to do that, this game is healthy.
Human group relationships are very fragile entities and based soly on shared interest, common bonds and trust. Almost every work place with more than 3 workers has an informal leader who is trusted more than the direct manager because of shared experiences and close bonds. Once a workplace exceeds Dunbars number, productivity is maintained by the leverage of outside expectations, quotas and the threat of termination. Under dunbars number and the employees are productive for each other because everyone knows each other. This is why HiTech has squads wheather he likes them or not.