Nude, awesome post. This is the first collected, substantial list of pro's and con's for the timer that I've seen in a long time. And while I support the longer timer, for the reason I listed below, you've definitely swayed me a bit towards your position.
For me, the over-arching question is (as you alluded to) "Are we experiencing more players/activity due to this change, or less?" If it were statistically detrimental, and players/activity declined since its implementation, I'd also want to revert the timer back to a shorter frame. If it were damaging overall population, it would have been long gone. More likely quite the opposite.
Also, previous discussion + poll: http://www.subspace.co/topic/26286-safe-zone-time-opinions/
-Plut
For me, the over-arching question is (as you alluded to) "Are we experiencing more players/activity due to this change, or less?" If it were statistically detrimental, and players/activity declined since its implementation, I'd also want to revert the timer back to a shorter frame. If it were damaging overall population, it would have been long gone. More likely quite the opposite.
Also, previous discussion + poll: http://www.subspace.co/topic/26286-safe-zone-time-opinions/
-Plut