Perhaps that is the reason (the comic's one). However, I believe that there is one main reason why the 17th parallel has been losing popularity (and, I have to say, may be almost dead). It is the skill needed to play the game. Because, when a new person comes to a zone, they (usually) want to be able to start playing immediately. However, in the 17th, even to master the rudimentary control of the different ships requires a fair amount of time. Most new players do not want to do this. So they will just wander away, never to return (I believe the term is churning). A bit like a badly-designed website, really. Oh well...