On the servers I have been on there is always one dominant nation in conquest. Therefore, if you join any other nation, you will have a degraded gameplay experience. If you were a new player you wouldn't know that, though. Degrading a new player's experience based on something they can't control is a punishment if you ask me. Being able to craft if you are in first place is nice, but in my opinion you should always be able to buy those items. Instead of looking at it as a privilege for the citizens of the first place nation, I see it as removing the ability of new players to get through things like crafting, because they can't always just go from nation to nation willy-nilly to get first place items and regional vendors.

The whole point I'm trying to make is, I think the amount of time this game has been out justifies getting rid of some of the more bothersome time sinks. Like the agonizing pace of travel.