HTC isn't likely to give a toejam about this situation as long their bottom line doesn't decrease. They get each of our $15 per month whether we fly or not. If the Rooks yanked their accounts en masse and HTC suddenly lost a big chunk of revenue, they might sit up and take notice. This will never happen, though, so forget about any intervention by HTC.
As has been pointed out by others, there is absolutely ZERO incentive for new players to go/stay Rooks in the current environment. The only growth in numbers is going to have to come from the more experienced player base, and it is the big squads that have it in their power to effect some significant changes. These squads fall into two basic categories.
First, there are the squads who've grown so fat and lazy from riding the gravy train that they can no longer be competitive with more equal numbers, if they ever were at all. Members of this type of squad will offer up all sorts of rationalizations for why they won't move to Rooks, or tried Rooks but didn't stay. Expect no help from this lot; they like things just fine they way they are now.
Then there are the squads who are probably just as tired of the situation as the Rooks are. The imbalance undoubtably offends their sense of sportsmanship and fair play, as it does ours. It can't be much of a challenge attacking bases that are undefended or barely defended, either. I imagine these are the squads who opt to fight Bishops or Knights while their teammates are busy banging away on the Rooks, although eventually they WILL join in for the reset. These are the squads we should be looking to for relief. If we could somehow get just a few of these squads over to Rooks, I think it would make a tremendous difference. But getting them to move is going to be the challenge. I regret that I have no bright ideas. I think it is like case of someone getting mugged on a city street and screaming for help; everyone hears it and knows someone should call the cops, but nobody does anything because they think someone ELSE is going to take care of it.
Whoever compared being in Rooks to what it must've been like to be a Luftwaffe pilot towards the end of WW2 really pegged it. It's a challenge all right, but the fun is really beginning to wear thin. I will not leave Rooks because I prefer to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I love scenarios, and can get into the gamey side of AH when Rooks aren't too badly in the bucket. But, if this situation keeps up too much longer, at some point I may just bag it and find more pleasant ways to spend the few evenings a week I can now spend in AH. Sadly, I can't justify shelling out $15/month to HTC just to maintain an account for scenarios, so I won't be the only one losing if that day ever comes.
