So we are back to the need to make an PRFH2 mod?
I believe there is quite a different reason why PR is successful, it is because it took the modern scenario and first of all concentrated on the important players. The Americans. Everything else like restricting gameplay and enforcing teamplay just helped to keep the numbers. FH didn't and now we have to live with it. I hope that including more maps with US forces will bring back a few people from across the pond.
I never said to make a PRFH2 mod. If I wanted one, I wouldn't ask the FH2 team, I would ask the PR team. But I did anyways, and they said no, so it's not gonna happen.
PR is popular because of it's variety. The amount of factions and maps it has, along with the vehicles and weapons they use. But we didn't have that back in the day, but it still attracted players because it focused on one thing the most. Teamwork. Good old fashioned teamwork. It attracts the military guys a lot, so you'll see them roaming around the forums and in game.
People came to it because it offered new gameplay as well, something that they could not get in vBF2 or other mods. It is the reason why mods like POE2 and the like collapsed, because they stuck with the vBF2 gameplay and now it is lost effort. Look how many players they have, and compare it to FH2. Honestly the only reason why FH2 has gone this far is because of it's dedicated playerbase and it deviates from the standard vBF2 gameplay slightly.
Once again, I am not suggesting the FH2 team go for the PR gameplay style. In fact that is what I do not want them to do. If FH2 did that, it would be seen as a PR clone in WW2. It would collapse quickly because it doesn't offer anything better than PR. This is why the FH2 team should try and make different, more radical changes, and not limit themselves to the gameplay they have currently, which only goes so far from the vBF2 gameplay. Try a different path, do not go the vBF2 way or the PR way. Shiny new PzIII and Sherman variants can only please someone for so long.
I'm sorry if some of this might not make sense. I tend to ramble when I get a train of thought going, combined with the current time only makes it worse. Hopefully you understood most of it.