Thanks guys. Yeah, a lot of people have left and it's a real pity because it didn't have to be that way. If the game was better executed from the beginning then it may still be on the minds of many more gamers. Nevertheless, I think a lot of people missed out. It's my opinion that the strength of the game is its unique combination between sci-fi and strong multiplayer. It makes it so appealing, yet I believe a lot of people just don't get it. Too much 'hardcore' realism in multiplayer games seems to be attracting people, yet at the same time it turns me back to UT3. I don't want to immerse myself in the real world; I'd rather escape to an alien world full of rich story and compelling characters.
I think Epic really missed out with the whole story and the complete lack of 'Tournament' in Unreal Tournament 3 - in that regard it was very half-hearted. It was my hope to bring back the Tournament into UT3 with future versions of MM3 but while I've got some ideas and a small plan, I'm not sure I've got the inclination at this point. With UT3 Epic did a whole lot of things right but they also did some things wrong. I kinda get the feeling that they'd prefer to work on other IPs.
At the end of the day, I'm glad others can get use out of MM and it can help them enjoy the game further, because there's no doubt that there's something special at the core of UT3. I like to think of MM as something that helps leverage the possibilities that exist in the game and the great community content that's out there.