I can live with an island sinking if it makes it a better game for everyone elsewhere. I was never all that fussed about the War Islands myself, though I can see why there might be some attraction when war can be so hard to come by these days. Though if player density has fallen too low, reviving a war island or two doesn't seem an obvious resolution to me. It might make the game more sticky for those already playing but it doesn't refill the other continents.
I'm not sure about the continent invasion ideas. Although Beluaterra has its fans, that kind of gameplay isn't everyone's cup of tea. I don't think launching massive simultaneous invasions of all existing islands is going to be welcomed as an opportunity for players to determine which continent gets deleted either. Seems more like a long-winded way for devs to dodge taking responsibility for a potentially unpopular decision. Better for them to just come out with whatever they come up with and we all just get on with it. Save us the hassle of an invasion first.
Instead of removing one island, would it be an option to 'reset' it, i.e. create 4 or 5 starter realms and leave the rest of the island as rogue lands to be conquered, as it was with the opening of Dwilight?
Having been around for the early stages of Dwilight, I can't say that I found establishing new territories and building a whole realm from scratch very interesting. There was a lot of just sitting around doing nothing. Plus you had the problem of everyone being interested solely on setting up a new realm somewhere of their own. The gold rush quality of that situation really didn't show off BattleMaster at her best and it was an eternity before any proper wars broke out.
This is why I think there is some mileage in Tom's proposal that continents potentially be merged or what have you. People get to keep their old ties and realms that have been built up. It's not coming up with something from scratch and starting everything anew. No meeting new people, coming up with RP for new realms or founding new religions. Better to keep and use the stuff we have, especially if it will help retain players who have put a lot of time and effort into their realms. I think there is a lot to be said for an option like this which tries to respect the history of islands and realms.
