Personally, I am getting very tired of climbing for 45 minutes (after hanging in the tower for 30) for a 2 minute fight that I or the bad guy ends up on the wrong side of a 3 vs 1. Don't care if everyone in WWII flew to 30k and still got bounced. I would rather fly in the MA, than have a sortie that lasts up to an hour or more with no guarantee of even getting in a fight. I do enjoy the company of my squad, but that is what has kept me here. Not the game play. Going to take a FSO vacation after this next frame.
Would rather see a 25k fighter/20k bomber ceiling implemented, as well as having shorter mission routes. Maybe even a second life.
That is really a CIC problem, more than a FSO or CM issue.
This is not a dig at anyone in particular, just a raw fact.
Some orders are just not well written.
Some folks were not meant to, or do not know how to lead.
Sometimes it is just bad luck.
Sometimes the opposing CIC has a better plan than to one that you have.
Sometimes the CIC writes the orders so that their particular squad is poised to be in a position to get the most contact and the lion's share of the kills.
The flip side of that coin is that I have seen orders from CIC's that were brilliant.
I have also seen CIC's and/or squad leaders that can "smell" the enemy for lack of a better word and know exactly where and when to vector their forces to be in a good position.
As for the decline in numbers, I have noticed that this usually happens over the summer months for the obvious reasons.
With regard to declining numbers over the past few years, this is more of an issue for HiTech. Every business owner has to deal with the intricacies and nuances of marketing their product to the public and must evolve both their marketing strategy and product in order to remain solvent.
Sometimes one has to be almost clairvoyant. It is a balancing act between listening to what the customer wants, and knowing/giving them what they actually need.
