I recall when the Ash Sea Islands was crumbling, a few players there left the game for good. One in particular had been around in the Ash Sea Islands since near the beginning and without the Ash Sea Islands he just didn't care any more. I can sympathise, as I really fell out of love with BattleMaster for a while after that myself. Ash Sea Islands had had her ups and downs but she had been a wonderful vibrant realm. I remember a time when we had had 130+ nobles. By the end we were reduced to 50~ but we still had a lot of good and spectacular players still completely engaged in things.
It is hard to lose a realm you have put a lot of time and effort into and especially to be prised away from all those players you've had such good times with. Probably no matter what happens we will lose players by seeking to reduce the game in any way. Still, that was why I felt freezing was a better idea than anything else. Everything you worked for isn't all gone. There is hope of a return and restoration. Either way, it seems necessary that something is done.
It might seem strange to some of the player base today, but there was a time when a 15 region realm in Atamara could have in excess of 130+ nobles. In fact, nigh on every realm in Atamara had at least 70 characters, most had over 100. It might be hard to lose a continent, but if we start seeing every realm with scores of characters again, as in BattleMaster's heyday, it will have been worth it. The game is so much better up and down the whole hiearchy when you have so many comrade-in-arms and not just a handful as is the case in a lot of realms today.