Hey, of course ur right when u say this server is nowhere near as populated as l2 used to be years ago.
But siege recently is not a good represantation of the server population (Giran server).
A lot of people are actually on holidays. This happens every summer.
Theres 2 main sides/alliances in this server and when one aide is not at its full strength they do not show up to take castle. Sometimes they also dont wanna go.
What u described as 20v20 was one of thoae times that the second ally dis not show up so whoever was there was just playin around.
Although u will not see thousands at siege, theres usually a good number.
To compete with the top 10-20 ppl in the server u have to either pay a lot, or make ur adena farming parties and wait few months to catch up.
Theres actually a lot of smaller clans in the server that do jot belomg in either of the 2 main alliances and as of yet do not participate in siege. They probably wont stand a chance until they gear up and reach 84+.
The way the server is setup it kind of skips everything below 76lvl.
They made it so u can pay few dollars/euros and get their starting packs and boosts and reach 76 in a matter of 1-4 days depending on ur knowledge of the server gear and buffs.
Although it can be disapointing at first, once u have adena party going ita not too bad.
Although its not optimal to have one adena party going to support ur main party, this is the reality.
Its lineage bro and although the grins has changed, its still there.
U need to farm for months and months to catch up to either old players, or rich players. If u pay, u save time. But u can also grind and get there as well.