its true that evrery year we see less players. it has become something like a private club. i remember fondly the days when it was not expanding only in 4 oceans. i remember worlds with 10 oceans full. i dont believe that what was proposed above is going to help. however i can propose 2 things that i am 100 % sure will bring old players back and make new players stay. nothing new since those proposals have been posted several times before but it doesnt hurt once more.
1)spam. i have red that inno takes action against it if you send ticket now however i dont know how fast they stop it. i still remember 1 and half year ago when the top 10 players of my alliance were spammed by a bot. we had 24h attacks exactly every 5m which were cancelled. we sent tickets immediately but even for something so obvious it took inno 2 days to act.
2)gold. we all understand that inno wants heavy gold users since its where money comes from. i am also using alot however there must be a limit. a game which rewards skills, activity, teamwork is much more fascinating than a game where you can purchase victory with your wallet. when someone is able to break a siege because he sent 3 full manti nukes from same city in less than 2h (he must have summoned merchant like a 500 times to do it), then he kills your mood to play.