I don't really know ECC's history.

When I joined, there was about 180 players max. I heard there used to be 20 players max. Then Andrew went crazy with advertising. :p

 

If I remember correctly (from things other people have told me) it used to be free build with no towns

 

Waaay back in the first map, you could pay money to get a select area protected (small as 5x5, I believe), and could keep paying to add more and more space to it. People just protected for themselves, as towns would have been a lot, and few people played~ But this was way, waaaaaaay back. Second map was when towns were added, I think... Later on, though. People were expecting them. Server was more "casual play / economy" than freebuild. (Although, with the old, old, old shop, you could buy a looooot of stuff for a low price--when the shop was opened...)

 

nope, never wondered.