http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...ad.php?t=34103
http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31288
As it was discussed to death back in April, a FFA PvP server isn't going to attract many 'new' people (new meaning people who haven't played on any of the VZTZ boxes). We were confined to the previous combined box populations plus a few stragglers. And given that, this server is pretty healthy with 200 players.
You'll get a few loners here or there, but nothing is going to deter new players more than not having people to start with. This is amplified by the fact that there's a lot of classes that aren't going to solo well (especially at lower levels). There's a reason that almost every new MMO has PvP teams.
Obviously, I'm not advocating switching the server to teams as it's way too late for that). Even if you adjust teams (hardcode no crossteaming, all classes available to two teams, raid zones FFA), teams still has issues much like FFA.
If you recreate a server that's basically a more stable VZTZ aimed at the VZTZ playerbase, did you really expect the population to greatly exceed VZTZ simply because it's got a 99 tag on it?