CF's playerbase regularly hit numbers of 70+ and peaked at 120 or more. Then CF implemented limited items. These numberes actually didn't diminish at all. I think what killed CF was the silly little gotta get logged in for 30 minutes or so. A lot of us back in the day used to log in for 10-15 minutes of PK between classes or after we did our BS work in a computer class in highschool. This idea actually gets my vote. The IMMs used to purport this idea that gear doesn't make the player. Don't hear a lot about it anymore since barrier wands are gear and they are required to face a lot of stuff as a hero mage.