I didn't find any compelling reason the servers should have been split myself. Nor did I find any reason put forth by HTC sufficient to merit that sort of heavy-handed approach. Retrospectively, I cannot come up with a single, solitary positive result splitting the LW arenas has had on either the gameplay or community.
Well ... it was not for you or me to "find". Obviously, we don't have access to data that HTC has/had in order to make these types of decisions.
I have always had a sympathetic appreciation for how you personally approach the game. I do realize some like a "small room" to play in. But, I honestly don't believe chopping the LW population in half really enhances the gameplay experience overall. There are several other arenas with various motifs that have a "small room" atmosphere for the minority that enjoy that.
Again, what you or I believe doesn't really matter.
I usually don't play in the "Big Boyz" arenas due to having frame rate problems when flying in large groups, but that is my problem. If I do play in the "Big Boyz" arena, it is usually the Blue arena because it is the easiest to get into and for the most part has a large map up.
On large maps, I can find areas that offer me what I am looking for, along with something that doesn't bring my video card to its knees, and also not having to fight my own countrymen for kills.
The population in the Purple arena, and the fights that ensue in that arena, never cause frame rate problems for me, along with not having to see the constant "I suck and need to deflect from my suckage" smack talk one sees in the "Big Boyz" arena. With that, there are some "I suck and need to deflect from my suckage" smack talk in the Purple arena, but no where near the constant flow that goes on in the Orange and Blue arenas.
Bottom line ... we can speculate/assume ... and that's all it ever will be ... when it comes to this topic.