I've been harping about the free build aspect for years. Its sole existence discourages being mobbed up like we are now, and takes away the hoops to jump through to get something new started organically. The biggest argument was terrible builds but to be honest I feel like the builds were better a few maps ago anyway.
I've been playing since 2012, and for the past few years I'd hop on for a month tops then get incredibly bored when I realize how stagnant conflict is on the server. Conflict being the sole driver of a narrative and its current lack on the server compared to how it used to be back in the day literally indicates theres no great stories to be told anymore. People care more about the protection of their established communities than anything else. There is no new developing cultures finding mass success compared to back then. Players want to be protected in their slice of life roleplay and people are less adventurous now. The administration team has coddled communities for years. However I think theres also been a shift in culture throughout the world in general since when we first started playing too.
The threat of being wiped out, and the freedom to start something entirely new without going through hoops are essentially gone now. The reason this server used to be great was because people didn't fall in line and you never knew what was going to happen. Now everything is predictable and you are restricted to banding with a group to have some semblance of fun.
My most radical opinion regarding this server is a complete wipe of lore and characters and setting us up on a freebuild temp map and let new things develop and happen organically.