Cartels were never meant for beginners or new players but rather a different style of play to promote an endgame incentive for the rebel faction. As seen over the past couple of years, the cartel scene has been in a gradual decline for quite some time now; which is a result of the game dyeing, game bans, stagnant content, and of course gang life declining as a whole. This change was not in any way discussed as a way to capitalize on the benefits gained by cartels, but rather to inspire the growth of larger gangs, increase combat in warzone, and bring back the overall competitive nature of cartels. Cartels were always meant to be fought over and can be seen as one of the most competitive roots of Arma 3.
Because of this decline, now is the time for change before there is no turning back and cartel life in its entirety is gone. Asylum has had two cartels relating to drugs/arms for quite some time now, and was an overall success. This is why we are also making a change of scenery. This change is meant as a testing ground/stepping stone for features to come for cartels and to bring life/content back to the cartel scene. Maybe even add some different cartels not relating to drug/arms
One of my biggest arguments is the current state of cartel gangs; there are not that many left. I would hope that this change will promote smaller groups to band together with the common idea of becoming a larger group to compete/dominate in the cartel scene. There is no group cap for cartels for a reason, so take this as an opportunity to recruit & build yourself a larger gang in order to reap the benefits of cartels accordingly. There will always be the "roaches", "backcappers", and "conquest gangs". these are common playstyles for combat regardless of game mode and there is nothing wrong with that. Condensing the cartels in my opinion is best for the server and we will see the results of this change hopefully in the near future.
As stated briefly, I originally wanted there to be only two cartels (Drug Cartel & Arms Cartel). Civ-Council & staff came up with a compromise in order to appease the server as a whole which has led us to the current roundtable change which is 3 cartels. Moving all cartels into warzone should increase combat and the number of gangs inside of warzone. By moving tower cap we are freeing up the peninsula for hopefully some new content that is in a very appealing spot on the map.
I also understand the argument about the underdogs, but there are already features in place for that like the new black market buffs. Combat takes time and experience, and the best way to counteract that is by practice & overall build up your gang to compete for what I might say is the most generous money making method on the server. Cartels should be earned and fought over.
PSA; I try to be as non-biased as I can and I would love for future feedback for not only cartels but conquest as well. Please reach out to me for any content suggestions, questions, or concerns and I would love to work with you to see what we can do.