I wonder if punishing small guilds was perhaps part of inno's intent?
For years and years now, small guilds have been able to dominate thanks to the fact a few good fighters can clean up in GvG. Especially these days if they are using automated methods.
While that has continued, we have seen the number of large guilds keep shrinking. I remember when it would be 6 or 7 pages of 70+ member guilds. Now it's half that, or less.
Perhaps inno is trying to reverse this decline and force everyone into larger guilds? I can't see how it would help their bottom line but it's the only reasoning I can think of for making the system so aggressive towards small guilds.
I'm still perfectly happy in my small guilds thanks. And consider this an improvement! The biggest impediment to a small guild that wants to hold their own and not be in a farming coop is the effectiveness of the coop in shutting them down! Neuter that and they do as well or poorly as they deserve - and that's all anyone can ask for. You cannot be shut-in by a single guild, it takes an alliance - and if the weaker member of that alliance is someone you can compete with as you're now on a level playing field with the same 80% reduction they have and they're actually running out of attrition, your chances to break out of jail for a bit are markedly improved.
I was happiest early on in GBG when I'd still get spanked in diamond but the rounds in platinum were competitive - so i got a season off to recharge for my next round of fun. So far it looks like that might be coming back from the rounds i'm in (platinum is more lively than it's been in over a year). Plus it'll be less uncomfortable being spanked in diamond - or if I wind up in a group like the one sharmon keeps posting, I might even be able to fight to stay in diamond.
The change is all about putting the battle back in battlegrounds. It's the gutless weakish medium-sized guilds that formed coop pacts that lost their power. Good riddance. Matchmaking, while still flawed, works best when it's a FFA other guilds want to do their best in