The numbers suck now because he coddled the GVer's and armchair generals several years ago by altering the GV icon rules and side switch timers.
Seems like about everybody has his own singular explanation for these low numbers of today. GV Icons, new GV controls, terrains, this or that map and so on.
But the numbers don't actually support that. There had been a long, steady decline in numbers from about late 2008/ early 2009 until about 17/18, with a significant lower loss rate in the past ~2 years. If there was a single, in-game change who made all the folks quit AH, we would see that.