The problem became EVERY mission was an NOE and so defense became a "whack-a-mole" type game in most cases getting there just that half second too late. No I think we lost more players because of the endless NOEs than we did for not having as many NOEs.
I disagree. I knew a lot of old AK's that left when that was broken because they realized the only alternative was simply using mass hoards.
What you got with the original settings was a bunch small unit clashes. 4 LA-7 scrambling to intercept 3 arriving fighters escorting two heavy attack and a single goon. All you had to do was fight your way to the goon and you deflected the attempt. Led to many a great small fight that had a sense of emergency and purpose.
The alternative is mass hoard. Is that better? It's either stealth and surprise or grind'em down with irresistible numbers.
If NOE needed tweaked a little, you could simply extend the field alert rings a touch to give another minute of warning.
It was fun on both sides. Scrambling to get defenders up at a back field that started flashing had a BoB feel.
But, this is all just wizzing in the wind.
[edit]
I realize I put 6 players in that NOE package and for many days that is a majority of all the players on a team, but that is a different problem.