@jimson: I agree the no-icon was presented in the hopes it would spur more activity, and from the BBS activity it appears so, still, it's the numbers that aren't quite matching up to that (*thx lusche for the input about stats). How much of the missing data can be attributed to shutting off scores, I wouldn't have the slightest idea.
I do recall seeing a suggestion and concern about a possible slack-off after the "novelty wore off from one of those threads and that the no-icon should be run often, but not all the time. The big March thread supports that as you see several people say it was a fun "event/experience." Some of them stuck around, most didn't as the graph clearly indicates.
The graph shows pilot #'s only and the trend I think is fairly obvious. I'm trying to understand why and the most coincidential events I see that lead to the overall downward trend could be attributed to the WW1 arena (which has better nbrs and icons enabled(?)) and the instituition of no-icons.
Now the trend is apparently rising (and may continue to do so), but the pilot count is still below the January level. Assessment = net loss for the year in terms of pilots, even tho the arena might have picked up (and lost) the dedicated core at the heart of any small community.
The key fun factor is the activity when each one of us is most likely to log in and play, namely early evening, with a big variable being the current setup, as evidenced by Jet Week (were icons off?), and to a lesser extent, the GV thingy you guys ran in Feb/Mar?
I just think the Staff needs to be open to further tweaking - nothing is ever set in stone, and we all would like to see the same thing, a higher populated arena.
Propaganda of any sort should always be subject to scrunity and debunking.
So perhaps consider the occasional limited icons on and see what trend that might create?
Like I said, either way I'll be around, until I'm not.
I do like TC's idea about a poll... I think the Staff should run one now and then for a variety of issues, even if only as a pulse taking.
<mutters about rarely seeing an Italian setup that features the early USAAF workhorses, 38, 47, 51 (and you could toss in the naval with f4u and wild/hellcats/fm2) vs a wider choice of german (f-g6 maybe?) and italian stuff (both), plus the attack/bombers on each side...>
On that note is there any archived data about the setups that have been run over time?