This server was started nearly two years ago. Can't say what it was like in November 2018.. there was probably a new server rush, as usual. Though when I joined around April 2019 the online count was usually in the single digits, and we were kind of lucky to have double digit online count. That didn't stop us back then, and I feel it made player interactions more special. We had buddied who we could, and it felt cool to be able to gather everyone up on the server to actually do a LPQ for once. It feels a lot different now than it did then.
Guess what I'm saying is that the server population still seems alright, and it's not necessarily bad if it's lower. You're looking at it all wrong if you think Phoenix is in trouble. It had much lower numbers and only experienced a boom after a different private server died and so many new players migrated over. As a wave breaks on the beach, it also recedes.
Other things to take away. DONT TOUCH THE EXP RATES. Just don't, okay? It's a 1x server. Raising the rates will piss off many existing players, and does not mean we get more players or even keep new players for longer. All changing the rates really does is change the level at which a player quits.
Maybe what we should actually do is nerf or limit LPQ and really notorious grinding spots like Eos 94. The less braindead and repetitive ways to level there are, the more we encourage players to do things that are actually... fun?
Voting incentive is also fine. People can easily find Phoenix on the ranking site. And if people really want cosmetic items, they can donate. This helps financially support the server. 🙂
I think what we really need are some fun and unique events. I don't mean the same old jump quest that every server has had for the past 15 years, or ola ola, or the canned Nexon holiday events. What I mean is a bit of interaction from Arnah and some other staff members, if there are any other staff members, would be fun, and if we had some unique little activities, it would be far more interesting than sitting around the FM.