What is being done to increase player base

[Pestilence]

I think fortified should return with fading effects to prevent abuse. Farming/bottom feeding is turning off new and old players. I think if a KD is a certain percentage larger than another kd they should have an automatic -50% gains and longer attack time. Force KD’s to fight in their own “weight class”.

Agreed. I assume the switch to rituals was done to increase page loads for ads, but from a gameplay standpoint it's not working.

If you leave eowcf and don't get another war right away and are forced to retrain you are screwed, just sit there and eat abduct waves from bigger KDs while everyone complains and gets frustrated.