I’m a nobody here but have seen this cycle on two muds I used to play extensively. One got over itself (on both sides) and consistently gets 15-40 players. The other is spitefully limping along at 0-10. CF has a ways to go before it’s comfortably in either bucket.

One observation is that it’s easier to drive away a good imm or good player than it is to get someone who isn’t a good match for the game to fuck off. I think this is because if someone is mudding in 2018 it’s generally a low-investment hobby (even when hours are high) or it’s all they’ve had going on since the 90s.