However, Sirion is the example for stagnation in the north of EC.
When I started the game more than 9 years ago, on the current lands of Sirion (and Nivemus) were 9 realms.
Now there are only 2, say 3 if we add Westmoor to it. The islands didn't exist back then.
Now the key question: How many were in the south back then and how many do we have now?
2004 there were 7 realms in the south. 2013 there are 6 realms and only 2 of them are original realms of back then, 3 if you count Fallangard as original realm.
We can therefore say that the south remained realmwise stable despite many wars ravaging it while the north walks towards a dead end.
Sirion and Perdan both stagnate their ends of the island, but in different ways. Sirion has chose to occupy the land on their own. Perdan has chosen to replace their enemies with friendly/client states.
Besides, realm count isn't everything. The relative size of the realms is also a huge factor. The south may only be one realm short, but the realms that do exist there are smaller than their previous counterparts:
* Eponllyn is smaller than Itorunt.
* Perleone is smaller than Ibladesh.
* Fallangard was, up until last week, smaller than Yssaria.
* Ubent is completely gone.
* Perdan is 7 or 8 regions larger than it used to be.
* Caligus essentially no longer exists in the south. Except for Domus, most of Caligus now exists in former Fontan lands.
And on top of that:
* Perleone, which occupies lands that used to be Ibladesh, is a Perdan ally instead of Perdan enemy.
* Fallangard, which occupies lands that used to be Yssaria, is a Perdan ally instead of Perdan enemy.
All this adds up to the south being dominated by Perdan as much as the north is dominated by Sirion.
In fact, the situation is even worse than just those. Perdan also counts Westmoor and OI as allies. The only people on the island actively opposing the Perdan faction are Sirion and Caligus. Nivemus might, if they weren't busy fighting OI for the Kazakh peninsula.
Let's face it, Perdan has been amazingly successful at dominating the island. Almost as good as CE is at dominating Atamara.
Now that's not to say that Perdan has done anything wrong. I'm not trying to attack Perdan or the players in it. Remember, I had a hand in creating some of that dominance, too. All I'm saying is that simply comparing realms counts from now to 8 years ago is completely misleading.
So, where do you think it was funnier to play?! In the north? In the south?
Different people have fun with different things. The south is not the perfect mecca for people wanting to have fun. I know plenty of people unhappy with the situation in the south, and plenty of people happy with the north. Different strokes for different folks.
More realms mean more chances and quests for players.
That again attracts more interest to play BM.
More realms by itself mean nothing. What good are more realms if those realms can't do anything by themselves, but are forced to walk a line dictated by someone else or else get destroyed? Living in a gilded cage is still living in a cage.
