Well....I had really great times with as low as 10 people online in CT.
I don't think CT is a failure at all. Noone in his right mind would think on CT being as populated as MA. Nobody. CT is a minority arena (note: not elitist, just minority). There is not such a big amount of people who wants the different settings prevailing at CT. Still, it's a blow of fresh air for the ones, like me, who like the short icons, "historical" planeset matchup, etc. All besides CT ambience.

OTOH, CT seems to get low numbers whenever IJN-IJA/USAF-USN planeset is used. I've played quite extensively there, and I like it more than MA. On my personal experience, I think Japanese planeset is too demanding. Maybe if Japanese planeset had a Ki-84, but with current planeset, IJN-IJA has basically nothing to do against US iron. And it's not *that* fun being in the receiving end. Even on a Zeke

Just my $0'02
Pepe