Pirate and gahlas pretty much pinpointed the problem. It looked good for a week there but eventually the novelty wore off again. I knew we had a limited window to work with there but the speed of the decline still caught me off guard. Unfortunately there is no loyalty built up for vanilla in our community - to get that loyalty that brings out seeders consistently it needs to be a new game that you want to make your primary or a longstanding one you don't want to lose.

Now I still think there is a possibility of building the server up in pieces over time. Unlikely, but possible given a strong commitment from a core group led by the poe2 diehards. We could target one night at first - a non poe2 night. Have a set seeding time. Nothing too early, aim small at first - 7PM EST for example. It doesn't take much to get a ranked bf2 server going so if you get 16 seeders on right at the start you'll quickly be over 30 players in no time. As some more regulars roll in the rest of the night the population could build. Like with the poe2 nights you'll show up and stick around because there is that expectation that others will be there with you.

Unlike the poe2 nights though there is major growth potential if things are taken in baby steps. Ranked land has an endless supply of players that could be pulled in. Start with the one night and as it starts to take hold the hours can expand and new days could potentially be added. For the poe2 diehards its a project worth thinking about as it could easily bring in players you could expose to poe2 - same with 2142 and PR players.