Even before Frontline Freelancer, there was the popular misconception that you HAD to be in Maelstrom to win.

To that, I say, why not create organized Adder/Flame teams? I understand the issue with bots is pretty rampant, but the answer isn't to stack up in one GC to try and avoid the bots. Make friends, build teams, create your communities, that's exactly what we did once before, and we became strong enough that it didn't matter what GC we were. Team strength was defined by skill, not color, and that's not impossible to do even now.

I recently went undercover on Primal for Rival Wings, and though I only did a few matches, they seemed rather coordinated and more aggressive than Aether can be. I saw no one trying to give up and quit, nor overprioritize mid. It was pretty wonderful by comparison.