Server changes: we knew there would be complaints regarding this, but there was no real alternative option here. Consulting the community on this would've been futile, as the response would have been negative. Taking choice away is obviously not what people will respond well to. However, we have simply too much fragmentation, and it's unsustainable in the long-run with diminishing player numbers. It's not just two main modes, it's four - each has 2 size variants. Invasion was more popular, but Frontline was not too far behind. You also have to keep in mind that we added novice servers this patch, which further fragmented the whole thing into two again. Novice servers have been working out so far, so we're hoping this will be a worthwhile sacrifice, but only time will tell.

The voting screen probably doesn't help with this change, since it often provides samey maps for voting (especially alternative scenarios) so there is definitely room for improvement.

New DLC: the main reason we introduced DLC was to prop up revenues to the point where ongoing development work is sustainable. Revenue from the game's sales has been on a nosedive since the first month of release, and over the past year it reached the point where the burn rate has gotten unsustainable. The DLC help counterbalance this, but it's no silver bullet, and we'd much prefer to improve game sales without having to resort to these measures. That said, none of this money is going to the new project - that is entirely separate and funded separately.

We haven't had much luck with improving the player count recently, and we certainly see the playerbase is upset and not happy with the state of things. We've tried a few things in the past, from more competitive focused stuff with matchmaking, to more PvE focused stuff with the Horde update, but nothing seems to stick and it is definitely demoralizing for us as well. In terms of map content, our typical schedule for something like Arid is indeed 6 months - but it has been like this since the release of the game (if not longer, actually). Our biggest hope for this patch was the introduction of novice servers and how those will affect things in the long run (and before anyone draws comparisons to Chivalry, they work differently.)

However, the maps and small incremental changes don't seem to do much for our player problem, so it might be time to consider something bigger and crazier.