Ok stick with me here.
With the numbers that were on they tended to swap bases at other ends of the map. The hordes didn't fight one another. So ht forced people to play together. When that failed, by by big maps.
No where did I say ban NOE. Just remove the horde aspect of it. HT tried fix the side balance issue before with hard caps. It didn't work. I feel he can address the horde NOE aspect of it (which is a balance issue)without affecting everyone. Again just lower max alt under dar and remove auto lvl when under dar alt.
If the problem is the horde, not NOE per se, then your proposed solution will do nothing to solve the problem. The horde will still horde. The NOE portion should just be taken out of this discussion entirely.
But then we are back to the same old song and dance. What defines a horde? How do you restrict a horde without restricting a very large furball in progress? On and on and on.
By the way, some of the worst hordes I've ever had the "joy" of trying to fight against have been on the small maps. The concentration of enemy forces mean the attackers have to come in with even greater overwhelming numbers to accomplish their mission. When hordes in country A and B both are operating against C at the same time, there is no place for a C player to go where he is not facing a horde. This was the actually the height of the problem you describe in my opinion.
Ultimately what happens will happen and those of us who enjoy the game will simply adapt and ride with it. Then the same complaints will start all over . . .