Dwilight is unique precisely because it's new(er).
When a new map is started, everything is up in the air. There is a power vacuum that realms scramble to fill, which was what caused that epic war on East Island so long ago. The culture is a blank slate, allowing prolific players to leave their marks. New maps are more interesting to play on, so they have more player activity, better retention and more player recruitment.
When new maps get old and their number of realms shrivel up and the culture becomes set and unyielding, the interaction becomes redundant and they bleed players profusely. East Continent and Atamara both went through this phase of drying up and now it seems as though all of the active players there are gone. You can spend months in one of the big realms in those places and never see any message, unless it's at war in which case you will see the daily scout reports and orders.
Dwilight is probably (haven't played FEI yet) the last bastion of meaningful interaction, and it's because it's a young island. History, so what. What do I care about history beyond background dressing, when it's what's happening at present that makes playing enjoyable.
But at this point the game is on an inexorable death march. Action wasn't taken quickly enough and the bleed out already happened several years ago. Closing islands is too little too late to change anything, and it's especially ineffective when it's undertaken with such blindness that the best island is the first to go.
