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To put it to a different perspective, many of the greatest players of their time have stopped playing this game. You are absolutely right about this statement, a natural decline is expected in every game and is nothing out of the ordinary. However it is worth mentioning these players were more often than not on a competitive and stacked roster, and almost never decided to branch out to improve the competition. There were some exceptions much like there are some today.
Now unfortunately many of these old greats are no longer around, but as a byproduct competition has became better in the sense there are no longer super squads with 25 to 30 great players. Roster limits did what it was intended to do which is spreading out the talent resulting in more competitive rosters. We can only use our imagination on how competitive seasons could have been with similar restrictions in place.
We have had several lesser known players stepping up their game and breaking into starting lineups in recent years all the way to top squads. Yes, it is true that you can no longer practice as often as you used to be able to as the European player base has pretty much vanished, but the potential to improve is still there for any motivated player with the help of competitive arenas such as elimination (which is limited to certain time slots in terms of activity peaks), requesting duels against known good players many of who are still willing to help and provide insight, and through borrowing in TWD which has been a godsend. Sadly the drive to get better is a rare trait among our players, and is seldom seen.
The only concern here is the ratio between players quitting to new talent being found and cultivated to fill the shoes of our lost players. It would require tremendous effort from the community to get any kind of improvement.
You may bask in the glory of past seasons, but those seasons were not that much different when comparing to the present seasons. We used to have at most four squads with any chance of winning a title with two being clear favorites back when the zone was at its peak in terms of player activity.
I feel several squads having played over a hundred games played in the span of 40 days is not bad at all, but of course it is far different from what it used to be when the zone was about twice as active. You may not be aware, but there were over 105 players watching a regular season game last week. It was a rare treat showing there is still interest towards the game.
In my honest opinion every TWL season, this one included, should have a "giant asterisk" next to the season as you so cleverly phrased it as competition was never truly balanced no matter what season you try to use as comparison. One could argue that the player quality was greater back in the day, but at the same time one could argue players have got better over the years and there are no longer as huge skill gaps.
Now unfortunately many of these old greats are no longer around, but as a byproduct competition has became better in the sense there are no longer super squads with 25 to 30 great players. Roster limits did what it was intended to do which is spreading out the talent resulting in more competitive rosters. We can only use our imagination on how competitive seasons could have been with similar restrictions in place.
We have had several lesser known players stepping up their game and breaking into starting lineups in recent years all the way to top squads. Yes, it is true that you can no longer practice as often as you used to be able to as the European player base has pretty much vanished, but the potential to improve is still there for any motivated player with the help of competitive arenas such as elimination (which is limited to certain time slots in terms of activity peaks), requesting duels against known good players many of who are still willing to help and provide insight, and through borrowing in TWD which has been a godsend. Sadly the drive to get better is a rare trait among our players, and is seldom seen.
The only concern here is the ratio between players quitting to new talent being found and cultivated to fill the shoes of our lost players. It would require tremendous effort from the community to get any kind of improvement.
You may bask in the glory of past seasons, but those seasons were not that much different when comparing to the present seasons. We used to have at most four squads with any chance of winning a title with two being clear favorites back when the zone was at its peak in terms of player activity.
I feel several squads having played over a hundred games played in the span of 40 days is not bad at all, but of course it is far different from what it used to be when the zone was about twice as active. You may not be aware, but there were over 105 players watching a regular season game last week. It was a rare treat showing there is still interest towards the game.
In my honest opinion every TWL season, this one included, should have a "giant asterisk" next to the season as you so cleverly phrased it as competition was never truly balanced no matter what season you try to use as comparison. One could argue that the player quality was greater back in the day, but at the same time one could argue players have got better over the years and there are no longer as huge skill gaps.
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