statistically, abnormal player count decline can be disproven.
in aug 2020 (last year during pandemic lockdown)
https://manacube.com/threads/august-2020.60056/
max was 3108 players
in sep 2020 (last year during pandemic lockdown)
https://manacube.com/threads/september-2020.61118/
max was 3094 players
in october 2020 (last year during pandemic lockdown)
https://manacube.com/threads/october-2020.62415/
max was 2712 players
there is a decrease here around the time of school. people started to focus more on school than on games during summer break.
google statistics of search interest
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=minecraft&geo=US
1 year ago it was rated at 75
today, its about 50
a reduction of about a third
comparing last years and this years player count
a reduction of about a third. credit this to the decrease in minecraft popularity ( can also be seen in other server popularity and other games too )
the covid pandemic, which locked people in their homes and forced them to be on their computers, would increase the player count regardless of server condition.
compare to prior pandemic
aug 2019 2719 players
https://manacube.com/threads/august-2019.46378/
sep 2019 2119 players
https://manacube.com/threads/september-2019.47419/
oct 2019 1678 players
https://manacube.com/threads/october-2019.48466/
reduction of about a third
in conclusion, in a
normal year, this player count decrease is easily explained
the pandemic created an abnormal scenario for all online gaming platforms. its not right to compare what you claim as the "normal" to the actual normal, when its the outlier.
in general, players do not care about what active players call bugs. if the game is 70% playable, they will play.
just because you may not be happy with your experience doesnt mean that the entire server- or in fact the entire game is as well
the merge happened to timely align with the annual player decrease by coincidence. as much as you dont like to admit it, the things you ( you = the majority of community members ) are asking for are being met and give more now than ever.
however, player difference, as claimed by deo, may be changing. the server and founding company is working towards being a more recognized company and not someone's weekend hobby. to do this, rules and guidelines must be changed to better fit the majority. so if you used to get away with edgy or offensive things before, youre more likely to be moderated now.