We also need to factor in the rising cost of living and high inflation levels respectively.
There is also the onset of the summer holiday season and people (esp in Europe) are making their plans. So many factors at work here and I’d hate to stake my living on a a few hundred completely voluntary acts of kindness.
The way lloyd has the tendency to “sanitize” information, I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t know
Lloyd used to have a highly effective firewall against negative information. People stumbling upon the scene are going to notice Jabba the Hutt’s presence first and the way he kept his paying Patrons paying was by monopolising the market and spreading fear to those who defied it. (He still does try to make people afraid but it looks pathetic and only invites more people to speak up). As people started their own online circles, Lloyd was nearly universally praised and the dissenters always had something wrong with them. Evangelicals. Failed and jealous activists. JW Mindsets.
Now it’s not a question of if but when they stumble upon information not convenient to Lloyd and people willing to convey it. The system of fear has been lifted.
This is why his Patronage is always in flux. Gains some, loses more. The free flow of information is such a bitch, and despite his and Tibor’s attempts to label and sideline it, it doesn’t favour Lloyd at all.
He blew his golden opportunity and thought he was too clever to fail.