I also chatted with a veteran who has played on the Zone since the good ol' AoE days. He said he plays now to simply pass the time. I was surprised to hear him say that he is nowhere near the player now that he once was in AoE.
So this has me thinking. I was on Friday night, Saturday night, and all day Sunday (obviously I have no life). There were always 250+ people in Esquiline.... and most of them I didn't recognize. The gamers have totally recycled since last winter/spring. The only names that are still on the Zone that were playing just 6-8 months ago are the true veterans of RoR. Obviously there will never be 2000+ people playing RoR on the Zone again, but where will it go? This game is over 2 years old (RoR) and new people are logging on to the Zone every week by the dozens.
I personally don't think I will ever actually quit playing on the Zone. However, I do miss the good ol' days of finding 6 equally matched players to get a great 3v3 game without rooks or idiots that can sneak into a game with all the new names, clan changes, and smurfs that are out there currently.
What will the Zone be like in another six months?