Since general foot traffic in the EW and MW arenas is much less than the LW, create several super small maps like the AvASummr map but, with 3 small countries. 10-12 feilds at most of all kinds. Keep all airfeilds strictly within 1 sector or closer of each other.
I can't remember if perks earned in each arena are only good for that arena. If not, then change perks to being arena specific so the only thing you can milk late nights is the ideiocy of flipping a tiny map adfinitum or just don't have perked rides. Then let the community label the map flippers "Tiny Mouse Map Boys". Or, if the maps did become smaller then change the war win to include a percentage of the strats destroyed.
The reason for tiny maps is so players cannot hide from individuals who drop in to find a few fights in a less uber plane or GV matchups. Look at the WW1 arena, the small number of feilds and how few are in there. But, at least they fight each other in there.
Much of the time in the EW and MW players use the standard size maps to hide from combat.
Over the years of reading the reoccuring posts about the EW and MW action\culture. Most players are turned off by not being able to simply "drop in" and find fights with random unknown players. As the constant criticism goes, you drop in, drop a few red guys, and they move off to a part of the map you cannot get to, then resume their milk runs. If players wanted to drop in with freinds and have to go oopsies, the red guys have run away again, half of us have to switch sides. They would have dropped in to the AvA or the DA.
The attraction to the LWMA is being able to "drop in", find your freinds, and most of the red guys want to find you and your freinds as bad as you want to find them. Create maps that make hiding in those 2 arenas harder than it's worth. Other wise the DA furball lake will continue to host consistantly larger numbers and more drop in-able action.
Games like this are not unlike running a sports bar or a night spot that targets a younger crowd. Customers will try out new things for the novelty, then go back to what feeds their needs. But, there are tried and true formulas that keep them coming back. WW1, AvA and the DA are niche spots with small groups of dedicated customers with environments generaly taylored to the obvious. The EW and MW are niches but, are not setup to reflect that fact. They are setup trying to be clones of the "Big Show LW" with offerings not proportionate to the scale of the expected combat, foot traffic, or followings of the rides.
