First of all, forgive my noob questions as best you are able. I've been out of the game for.. a long time. I believe age 17 or 18 was my last. So again, i'm a noob and have one pressing question and maybe a few less pressing ones too.
When i last played Utopia, KDs were almost entirely focused on a growth. Being the biggest, baddest, highest NW KD/prov on the block was the goal. Now you had your honor KDs here and there, but they were few and i never understood why they'd sacrifice growth for a title and some small but helpful bonuses.
My first age was 3, or maybe 4.. I remember Discworld, HoDF, the endless alliances, war blocking, and all the good times. I remember the first iterations of the hostility system and the war meter, the war wins prominently displayed on your KD page, but it seems this system has run away with the game. When i was playing you would war to grow. To gain acreage and NW. To come out substantially stronger than you were before. I look across the scarred and decimated wasteland of most kingdoms and think to myself.. What the hell happened? Are war wins really the 'it' thing? Do KDs intentionally stunt growth just so they can get war wins?
It seems there was an entire paradigm shift in the way this game was played in this regard. Provinces have scary offenses, non-existent defenses, push out 3x the amount of attacks, and the primary strategy is chain, chain, and chain to the point of it no longer being particularly beneficial to chain as far tangible gain is concerned.
My principle question is, with all of that said; why?
Sub questions are as follows: Is that really fun? For anyone? Is that why theres like 20 islands when WoL and WoG each used to boast 50+? I'm genuinely curious because i'd like to come back to this game, but it doesn't appear to be played in any recognizable fashion that i had been accustomed. I understand perfectly the onus is on me to find a reason to play, i'm just wondering if what the prevailing thinking on the matter is.