More have been signing on lately, despite folks like the OP trying to run folks off.
Yes, and the fights have been....meh. I tried for 4 hours tonight to find a fight. Ack runners. Bounce and runners. Ack runners again. Being called a picker in a Yak9T (ENY35) at 6K co-alt with F4U4.... who ran to ack.
Next sortie...I put myself on the deck to get bounced....pleading for a fight... drew a con all the way down.... who then ran when the tables turned just to neutral. Neutral fight.... run away! Seriously.
I came back looking to catch what used to be, and found that it's basically kind of gone. And that makes me a bit sad. The good sticks seem to have vanished. I used to always be able to find a fight that had me sweating and pulling whatever trick I could find to stay in it. Now it seems the fights are all just E-fests. Shrug.
Smaller maps won't change the players. And the players don't seem to want to fight.... they just seem to want the easiest kills they can get.