ok let us have a serious post shall we? (ill split this into a second topic for you all to flame in when I am done.) I think the problem is 2 fold 1. There are too many people out for themselves in this game, people who shut down advancement and discussion because it does not agree with their grand plan. We also have people who will willingly screw others over to get into a position of authority then abuse said power. With behaviour like this everyone loses, especially the normal player and so people leave and new people are less likely to stay. 2. Lack of new development. Since Pritt all but left us things have slowed down. Whilst we have had ASSS, the whole community has be slow to adopt it. Also the new projects have been slow to get moving and seem to stop meaning the addition of new features to the game to keep things fresh is very slow and so players lose interest and leave. Also we have problems in attracting the new generation of gamers who never had the 8 bit consoles we did. These people expect stunning graphics, 1000s of functions and a limitless array of weapons and modes as standard. Without development continuum will not meet their expectations. Now for the flamers here. Let us suppose a potential new player stumbles across this thread and sees how other players are treated, do you think they will be as willing to install the game? If you are going to flame rootbear do it in spam lounge and restrain yourselves. You saw what happened to JDS when he gave everyone crap on here. If roots spamming gets worse he will be dealt with accordingly, it does not mean this is required in a serious pub topic. also root provoking them with a reply isn't going to help things.