That timeframe was the big bot nerf, but that definitely didn't kill all of them. Yeah we've fluctuated a bit since then but from talking to people I know personally, people in my guild, and people on Discord, my guess is the overall decrease in human players is being significantly offset by another increase in bots.

I'll admit rental volume is consistent, but rental prices overall have dipped significantly. Even in my scenario of Bot A undercutting Bot B, who then undercuts Bot C, who undercuts Bot A, who restarts the cycle... the volume still stays the same... it's the overall value taking the hit.

176k can't account for the real average of players when there's at least 2 dozen people I know running 10+ bots each. That's 24 people responsible for 240 accounts and I highly doubt this situation is an outlier.

!BEER