I don’t think that the lack of a watchlist type feature is an issue with the wardec mechanics. Sure it effects the meta of wars, but hub and pipe camping were already a large part of wars before the nerf. Sure it would empower players to change the meta up and go out more to search for their targets, but the whining about aggressors hanging out around hubs and pipes will never end.
The watchlist removal also effected so much more than highsec wars and has changed the meta in many different niches of gameplay. I would like to see some kind of watchlist functionality make it back into the game, but I highly doubt CCP will ever see this done.
The truth in most cases is that defenders rarely ever bother to mount a force to properly defend or attack the aggressors. In most cases the aggressor has nearly min-maxed his setup and attack plans and it leaves little room for error or victory for the defenders. Prior to the watchlist nerf it was just as common then as it is now to see player drop corp or stay logged off for a week.
Metas change and the watchlist was a huge shakeup for highsec wars. There are still viable ways to hunt and gather intel even without a watchlist… it’s just different than it was before. I’m not talking about some work-around to accomplish the same task as pulling up your contacts list to see if targets are online.
I know some of the players that you’re referring to and I have nothing but immense respect for them. Some of them introduced me to highsec pvp and wars, so for that I’m grateful… I can say that I think a lot of these players that quit were stuck in their ways and refused to adapt or die. I know “effort” was put out to adjust to the new way of doing things, but to be honest a lot of their burnout was self-inflicted.
So instead they join nullsec groups and stop playing the game after literally a day. I hate to see this happen, but it’s kinda sad if you feel you have no desire to play the game once CCP nerfs the niche you enjoy. Look at Feyd and how he turned full 180 on us and started talking ■■■■ about highsec content. He joined BL then later PL and has quit the game. It’s just a poor attitude to have, and I struggle with it myself with things like hyperdunking. One of the biggest abusers of the watchlist were super and titan hunters like PHEW and RC, yet you still see them hunting (yes it is harder now than it was before, just listening to them talk about it).