I waited a little while to continue my rabble. Gave the voting a chance and while I still support the move, I haven't lucked out and seen the perks of it personally yet. Even now, I have logged in to the usual low pop Market.
So I'll crack my knuckles and begin!
Today I have chosen to pick on the length of rounds.
I'm not going to make statements like "most players" or anything of the sort with regards to what I have to say, but I do ask that you at least consider how many out there may be in the same boat. Admin have pointed out here that unfortunately, many players do not make their voice heard. While it isn't a concrete rule, I had it beat into me while working in the service industry that on average, 70% of people who have a negative experience will say nothing and 30% of those people simply do not return. I got the memo there and would strive to solve problems before hearing it from a client. Just another point to consider.
Now my personal story for you...
1942 came out when I was 13. My friends and I would perform menial tasks like mowing lawns to scrape together $20 to go to the university computer arcade and play 1942 all afternoon. Computers weren't cheap enough for low-medium income families yet, let alone the "monster" computer needed at the time to run 1942. We did this year round, work for a few bucks to spend hours playing a game. Fast forward to a couple years later, and I'm legal working age. Earned enough to buy a used computer and a copy of 1942. Work came and went and I had many evenings free to play many rounds at a time. I would even skip school some days to sit on Moongamers all day (believe it or not I've been around since you had moonman t shirts). Days like that, I experienced everything the game had to offer. Every map was played in every mode. I even remember hopping on a less desirable server, checking on Moon's servers (plural there!) once in awhile to wait for an opening to get in. It never mattered what map was on, as I was there for the long haul and my favorites would pass through multiple times that session. Fast forward again a few years and I'm out of high school, working full time, with a lady and her daughter in my life. I still had semi frequent nights where I could stay up until the wee hours gaming out, but they were getting stretched out a little bit. Another few years later, I moved on from jobs and found a career. I'm now living with this lady and her daughter. Her daughter's school events and extracurricular activities are part of my life now too. Game nights are still around semi regularly, but gone are the days of playing until 5 or 6AM. These types of nights are rare. Fast forward to the present. I made it as a journeyman electrician in a labor intensive field. Married the lady and had another child, with yet another in the oven. Am getting very close to the big 30, and my body is starting to feel a lack of sleep. My game time has become extremely limited. Adulting kicked it into high gear. Even if I get a random EDO and the house to myself for a day, I've got something to fix, laundry to do, yardwork to catch up on... The only real time I have to game is most evenings for a brief window before I go to bed. I always, always, always check out Moon first. But with a short timeframe to play, I have to pass on my usual login of a low pop Market round being ran. The very odd time I have a good chunk of gametime and a decent pop is on a map I'm not crazy about, I will hang out for a little bit in hopes that more join. But generally, I'm picking what will be more immersive for the half hour - an hour I may have.
Thats me. I will not speak for a single other player here. I just ask that you think about this story. We've all grown up since the game was released.
I'll keep this portion short and sweet. You seem to be leaning towards creating long rounds and I personally find this problematic. 45 minute timers, extensions (which have been beat to death in the forums yes, but still live), high ticket counts, uncaps being modded into maps like Berlin (we cant even cap out a map to move on if no admin are around), flags spread out, even ctf (which is my personal favorite) seems to have a high flag count, experimenting with weapon nerfing, heavy equipment like boats almost instantly respawning, limited map choices... its like you're trying to force players into long drawn out battles. This idea gets supported by some of the admin comments from time to time as well. "well if players would cap in this order this would work... well if players didn't run jeeps into tanks and had tank battles instead this would work... etc." Except there isn't the population for long epic battles anymore, and you can't force a play style.
I feel you would be much better off shooting for a turnover in maps. Bring back the classic Berlin. Axis gets capped out in 5 minutes? Whatever. It will be on again. Or run it back to back if players want it. Shorten the round time to a half hour, or drop the ticket count. I could live with CTF 24/7 but even I will say, drop the flag count to 5 on the few times you do run it. Ren has touched on burnout before so I won't get too into it, but he has a point.
Take all this as you will. Make changes or stay the course.
My personal view though: I do not want to play 5 on 5 Market that will not even end before I have to go to bed.