*shrug*
As far as I can tell its still pretty populous. If you've been gone for a few years there is one possible explanation though.
Way back when street sweeping used to be the best way to level so the streets would be filled with people soloing and teaming. Now missions/TFs are much more effective so people are all in their mission instances. Meaning you'll only ever see people around when they're either hanging around or travelling between missions.
Look in /search, BMT of Champion or Champion United. Lots of teams forming up at all times.
Edit: Send a tell to any one of the following @Cobalt Azurean, @Cutlass, @Force, @Miz Nibbles, @Myrmydon, @ReDorthy or @Starfire for an invite to BMT of Champion. @Myrmydon and @Cherry-2000 can get you an invite to Champion United, I dunno who else.
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Most of the servers are now like what you have described. Many players have left the game over the last couple years. Additionaly, the devs gave out free server transfer tokens about 4 months ago. Many players transferred their beloved characters over to the 2 highly populated servers. These servers being Freedom & Virtue.
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Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
I leave for a few months(fine years) and I come back and it's empty at almost all times. What has happened? We used to be one of the most busy servers, behind Freedom.
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I see people on all the time. From globals to BMT, plus with GR coming out... I know some people have taken a break before it hits.
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Preety much Silas hit it on the nose.|
Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
I leave for a few months(fine years) and I come back and it's empty at almost all times. What has happened? We used to be one of the most busy servers, behind Freedom.
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Also a active SG helps alot when looking for players/teams. When I am on I have no problem finding people to team with; with that being said 90% of those people are from my SG.
Hit me up in game if you need a team, be happy to help you out with a team if thats what your looking for.
(Edit, not sure how much my statement helps since you were asking about player population and not teams. No sleep for 24hrs will do that to you)
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I hear this now and then and think, when did YOU get on?|
Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
I leave for a few months(fine years) and I come back and it's empty at almost all times. What has happened? We used to be one of the most busy servers, behind Freedom.
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This past Saturday, I thought about making a MoLGTF attempt. Turns out, there were a lot of interested parties who happened to be working Lusca back into the IP bay. By the time Lusca was finished, we had nearly enough people for two teams.
My Global channels are almost always busy. BMT of Champion, Champions United, Alliance, Earthguard, Black Brigade, and so on... it is rare when I get on and don't find conversation going on. Only a little less rare when I get on and can't find teamage for exactly what I want to do.
In terms of population, Freedom still dwarfs us, but we're still a thriving community here on Champion. Look into more active SG's if you want to do more, but rest assured, there's fun to be had.
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What happend to you? A lot was going on this past weekend, check our server calender. Is this another, "The Server is dead!".....DOOM! At the risk of beating a dead horse get on Champion channels you'll see several of us on there always putting something together.
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Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
I leave for a few months(fine years) and I come back and it's empty at almost all times. What has happened? We used to be one of the most busy servers, behind Freedom.
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Global@SteelDominator
There is a lot less "traffic" then there used to be. Redside activity dropped once roughly around the time Ouroboros arrived and then again when the Architect system launched.
AE killed off quite a few players who were justing hanging in there feeling bored. They made some nice arcs, joined the ridiculous farms where you could get form level 1-50 in 30 minutes flat, made all the characters they ever wanted, played them for a few weeks, then quit.
A big wedge of the PvPers left after the PvP changes hit. But then, most PvPers tend to bounce from one good PvP game to another anyway, once interesting systems arrive in new games.
It might sound a bit weird to blueside players but I think the departure of Demoniker/Blackguard, two weeks after Issue 12 launched, was the moment when redside went into true decline. I don't think people appreciate how important that guy was for the Champ villain "community".
There's a massive hole in the server where the Blackguards SG, LOST SG, VORI SG and RAC SG used to be. In the past 2 years my SG has maintained roughly the same top 100 SG ranking on the server, despite me being its only active member. Back in 2006 this would have been impossible.
Whenever I visit blueside (which will be pretty often after Wednesday!) it feels like redside did back in Issue 7-9. A lot more busy, even if it has waned as well.
Players forget that there are still quite a few ex-players out there who left in protest becuase of things like the superbooster packs - some people really hated the idea of paying for new costumes and left when they saw the game was going that way.
The Widow's Dark Hand - leader of Faux Pas
Champion Server
Tee Hee!
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Shhh... you weren't supposed to tell him that! Now how are we gonna sneak up on him to steal his wallet?|
Originally Posted by Ashcraft
We're hiding in the bushes.
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Champion endures. No matter what people say about which server has the most people, at some time of the day there will be other servers with more players (except Freedom and Virtue I suppose). It is kinda sad to see Guardian, Pinnacle and Victory with more people than Champion on a regular basis when I play, but at other times I'm sure Champ is still in the top four.
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Originally Posted by Dollymistress
There is a lot less "traffic" then there used to be. Redside activity dropped once roughly around the time Ouroboros arrived and then again when the Architect system launched.
AE killed off quite a few players who were justing hanging in there feeling bored. They made some nice arcs, joined the ridiculous farms where you could get form level 1-50 in 30 minutes flat, made all the characters they ever wanted, played them for a few weeks, then quit. A big wedge of the PvPers left after the PvP changes hit. But then, most PvPers tend to bounce from one good PvP game to another anyway, once interesting systems arrive in new games. It might sound a bit weird to blueside players but I think the departure of Demoniker/Blackguard, two weeks after Issue 12 launched, was the moment when redside went into true decline. I don't think people appreciate how important that guy was for the Champ villain "community". There's a massive hole in the server where the Blackguards SG, LOST SG, VORI SG and RAC SG used to be. In the past 2 years my SG has maintained roughly the same top 100 SG ranking on the server, despite me being its only active member. Back in 2006 this would have been impossible. Whenever I visit blueside (which will be pretty often after Wednesday!) it feels like redside did back in Issue 7-9. A lot more busy, even if it has waned as well. Players forget that there are still quite a few ex-players out there who left in protest becuase of things like the superbooster packs - some people really hated the idea of paying for new costumes and left when they saw the game was going that way. |
Actually as someone who plays Redside almost exclusively, I've noticed the population go up in the past few months.
A lot more people are trying out redside ATs for whatever reason.
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Nothing happened to Champion. What you are seeing is normal just before a major issue/expansion hits. People are testing GR in beta, taking a break, taking a vacation(I did this last week 
) And I am sure some more people will return tomorrow or sometime during the week. Especially if GR gets rave reviews from players.
SJ
Let's face facts. City of Heroes is six years old. Of course the game's player population is lower than it was four years ago. That's just the nature of MMOGs. However, I've personally noticed a lot of returning veteran players the past couple of months, coming to check out the game in preparation for Going Rogue. I expect that trend to continue over the next couple of months.
Champion still has a decent server player population. No, Champion is not as active as it was back in 2006, but that's to be expected. It's still fairly easy to find teams though, imo. We had a blue side monster hunt for EoEs on Friday. On Saturday, there were a ton of Master of * Task Force / Strike Force runs, as well as a blue side Hamidon raid. There was at least one Master of * Task Force / Strike Force run yesterday as well, and at least one Rikti mothership raid.
The game is what you make of it. There are plenty of teams to be had. I know you're on BMT of Champion. There's also the Champions United global channel. Find a good and active SG to join, which there are several. Make use of all your resources.
@Celestial Lord and @Celestial Lord Too
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Possibly because they will be able to transfer those redside ATs to the hero side? |
Originally Posted by Silas
Actually as someone who plays Redside almost exclusively, I've noticed the population go up in the past few months.
A lot more people are trying out redside ATs for whatever reason. |
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^ that.
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Originally Posted by Celestial_Lord
The game is what you make of it. There are plenty of teams to be had. I know you're on BMT of Champion. There's also the Champions United global channel. Find a good and active SG to join, which there are several. Make use of all your resources.
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As CL is pointing out, we have a lot of server activities. Please check out the event calendar for times and dates. Large scale server events are a great place to start to meet new people, since there's almost always a decent crowd attending at a scheduled time. For more day to day, unscheduled teams or TFs, make use of one of the global channels CL mentioned. Chances are, if you're interested in doing a particular TF and start to form it up, others in the channel will show interest. |
Originally Posted by Celestial_Lord
Champion still has a decent server player population. No, Champion is not as active as it was back in 2006, but that's to be expected. It's still fairly easy to find teams though, imo. We had a blue side monster hunt for EoEs on Friday. On Saturday, there were a ton of Master of * Task Force / Strike Force runs, as well as a blue side Hamidon raid. There was at least one Master of * Task Force / Strike Force run yesterday as well, and at least one Rikti mothership raid.
The game is what you make of it. There are plenty of teams to be had. I know you're on BMT of Champion. There's also the Champions United global channel. Find a good and active SG to join, which there are several. Make use of all your resources. |
Leader of Renaissance de la Veritas
Moderator of ChampioNexus
Amygdala's Guide to the Cathedral of Pain Trial
Mez,
We are all still here but lurking in the darkness waiting for the news that the sky will fall upon us all and the evil Recluse will once again RULE THE WORLD !
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
Everyone has covered the reply well enough.
I will only add that I think you'll be surprised to find a lot of the same names you remember from years ago still hanging around.
-Star
Just keep teaming with me. I know everyone!
Amily
Just so everyone knows, he's in BMT of Champion.
"Champion (the Community Server... or GTFO) is like a small town where everyone knows each other's names, for better or worse." -kojirodensetsu.
"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." - Maslow's Hammer
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Heh.......Tough not to know if you watch the channel........
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Originally Posted by Cobalt_Azurean
Just so everyone knows, he's in BMT of Champion.
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I know right. I do like to talk to people! 
Champ used be yellow on server selection almost all the time. Now all I see is green. Older players know what I'm talking about and I understand the population has dropped in almost four years. It's just strange to not see people on my search when I used to have over 600 when I searched whole server(I guess that's where Hide comes into play.)
Also, I'm in United Heroes Brigade and it's one of the most active sgs on the server.
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Fwiw, the yellow indicates server load. While player population weighs in on that, its not exclusively tied to it. Since they did they hardware upgrade about a year or two ago it takes more to get the servers to go yellow.
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Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
I know right. I do like to talk to people!
Champ used be yellow on server selection almost all the time. Now all I see is green. Older players know what I'm talking about and I understand the population has dropped in almost four years. It's just strange to not see people on my search when I used to have over 600 when I searched whole server(I guess that's where Hide comes into play.) Also, I'm in United Heroes Brigade and it's one of the most active sgs on the server. |
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Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
Champ used be yellow on server selection almost all the time. Now all I see is green. |
You left, what was the point in continuing after that.
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Then I'm surprised you don't talk in UHB Network' more. It's supposed to be for that.
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Originally Posted by Mesmorizer
Also, I'm in United Heroes Brigade and it's one of the most active sgs on the server.
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"Champion (the Community Server... or GTFO) is like a small town where everyone knows each other's names, for better or worse." -kojirodensetsu.
"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." - Maslow's Hammer
I leave for a few months(fine years) and I come back and it's empty at almost all times. What has happened? We used to be one of the most busy servers, behind Freedom.