All teams have reported drops in participation, but they only became life-threatening after the 1.74 patch became ubiquitous. The save is taking so long to go around because more than one team has to rely on a single turnplayer. Why? Because of the necessity of a dual install due to the patch. Why is there only one turnplayer? Becuase participation is low. Why is participation low? Because on many teams, only a couple people are able to open the save. So you see, the patch is the reason participation is low, and participation being low is the reason the game is on life-support.
4 teams have voted, and so far they all support patching. This isn't about fairness. None of the teams are for patching just for the sake of patching - but patching is the only way this game is going to go forward. This is also the first time that the whipping fix has been brought up. Does that mean that Aloha's position on the Cossacks/Redcoats issue has been resolved? If so, then the whipping thing is a non-starter, as it's a level playing field for all of us. Every team will be experiencing the same consequences.
Let's finish what we started before talking about starting up a distracting second game.
Sure doesn't feel like this from my team's perspective. Lots of interaction and combat, we have!
That's great news! 
I hope this helps bring participation back. Let's all sacrifice some fruit and get this game rolling again! 
