[CF List] New To Crossfire

[misleb at onshore.com]

Hello,

I have been a Nethack player on and off for years now. I was looking
for something a little more engaging. I always considered making
a multiplayer version. Seems like Crossfire is it (plus a lot of other
features). I have only played
crossfire briefly just to see the interface and such. Seems to be 
pretty much what I ever could have hoped for, short of playing one
of those bloated commercial multiplayer online games.

Anyway, I had a few questions about the current status and community.

I noticed that there are many servers running at any given time.  Are
these servers usually running the same basic "world" (set of maps?) Why
not just one server? Or just a couple? Seems like it would be more fun
with lots of people running around in a single (large) world.

I noticed that there are usually never more than 5 or so people on
any given server at any given time. Is Crossfire meant to be a social
thing or just a few people who happen to running around in the same
world together? I understand that you COULD create parties and fight
monsters together, but does it happen? 

How long do the servers generally run? Are we talking weekly turnover
or monthly? Also, I am not quite clear on how or if the servers refresh
the monsters/quests. If a server has been played by enough people, does
it get depleted of monsters/quests/artifacts?

Thanks,
-matthew