Is there something going on with alliances, or is it just mine? In the past, after removing an inactive player, someone new would join within hours. Currently my alliance has two empty spots and no one has joined in several days. My alliance is set to Open with a trophy requirement of 0.
Alliance name is currently Black Diamond Squad.
Somewhat recently (weeks?) the search function was changed. If someone searches without entering alliance name, they’ll only see alliances having at most 24 members. At least that’s what I’m noticing.
Just so you know: When I typed “Black”, I couldn’t find you (the system used to return all alliances with a keyword in their name). “Black Diamond” and there you were.
Thanks for the info. That’s a real bummer if search is broken. I see the same when I search for Black. But if I search for Diamond, it appears.
How is a normal Open alliance supposed to be discoverable? I might have to change the name to game the system?
@Rook. As a moderator can you ask developer o fix this? Inthe past when we kicked a member, we got many, many requests within short time. If not to be fixed, how can the leaders react to be visible again?
The research button is indeed the most underdeveloped thing in the game.
It’s a real shame.
Recruit in forums and in game
I think there’s also a lot more players in game.
Started a really really stupid alt to try to get a Loot Tier 2 picture, and the cup rank is something like 1.5 million now, and we will probably have over 1m attempt the beginner event this time.
The problem here is now there are a lot more alliances… which, well, yeah makes it harder for ones that are just randomly open to get a new member joining. I agree recruiting on the global chat channels or on forums is probably the best bet; I do think SG could do better in terms of searching on alliances either by minimum trophies, or by titan score, or something which differentiates alliances from each other for those that aren’t as sophisticated or aren’t as well connected in game.
It’s not an error. We also recently had an opening and took days to fill.
Remember when advertising:
Error or not, it’s a frustrating design. I don’t want to have to spend hours a day advertising my alliance. That’s not the fun part of the game. It’s Open for a reason. I want people to find and join us. If they aren’t active, I’ll boot them to make room for the next batch. It’s been working fine for a couple months and now suddenly, crickets…
I do know that the competition for new players has become very focused in the last few months. You now have to work at it if you want to gain new members in AR chat; folks have multiple ads, some in color, all blaring second to second to try and catch that elusive free member.
I think it’s just the way it is…it’s not something that can be “fixed” per se. 
EDIT: “second to second” is hyperbole. Please don’t spam the AR Chat; one ad every few minutes is fine.
I thought we were just going through a dry spell. Previously if there was an available spot in our open alliance I could count on 2 or 3 people a day peeking their heads in at least. Some would leave after a few minutes, some would stick around. The last week or so there have been 2 openings in our alliance and there hasn’t been a sign of anybody new.
We are easy to search and I am recruiting every day but get nothing. Something’s amiss.
Rook, I don’t think it’s “just the way it is”. Something clearly changed in the last week or so that made this significantly worse. Again, it used to be a few hours at the most and multiple people would be joining without me having to post anywhere. Now, it’s been a week and no one has joined at all. It obviously could be “fixed” per se, by restoring however it worked before.
I’d guess a tiny fraction of players look at the recruitment channel or forums, so all that effort results in zero gain. It’s seriously impacting my enjoyment of this game.
As always, if you are experiencing what you believe to be an error, please contact Game Support:
https://smallgiant.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000542934-How-to-Contact-Support-v1-9-7-onwards-
I was simply stating that there are a large number of factors that go into this process that change all the time:
And the list goes on. These factors change from day to day, week to week, etc.
EDIT: It seems that alliances over 24/30 players do not automatically show on the initial list unless specifically searched. I think this is to help the struggling alliances below 25 players. (I thought this was new, but realize I always search by actual name…so this could be a longstanding feature.)
Sorry for my wall of text. 
I filled 6 spots within a week. Recruiting sucks but its a part of the game. I didnt do any fancy ads with colors and little rhymes. I didnt chase anyone. Just simply copy and pasted in AR every 5 minutes or so while I was on . Its possible you just have to put in work.
What makes an allience with 24 members better than the one with 27? Maybe they have a bad leader, thats why people leave this alliance. I cannot find anyone in our chat, there are only people searching for members and mercs. Two weeks ago everything was fine. Why was this thing implemented?
I’m not making a judgment, just noting that this is so.
I have not been told of a change.
There’s definitely something going on. Up until a week or so ago, when we booted a member or a member left on their own, within minutes we would have the empty slot filled. Now, we’ve been down 4 players for over a week, and no one is coming in. When I go and look at Alliances, there used to be a list of random alliances, plus I could do search. Now, it is just an empty page, there are no alliances showing up. If I were a new player, how would I find an alliance? Plus, if you do a search, the results are not accurate unless you are specific. Example: My alliance is Gramps’ Gladiators, if I do a search for just “Gramp”, my alliance should show up, but it doesn’t, it has to be completely spelled out. Again, how are new players supposed to know to even do a search for Gramps’ or Gladiators?
Well yes, the recruiting situation has definitely changed since last fall. And not for the better.
Recruiting has become a nightmare.
There are many alliances looking for members. And hardly any players looking for an alliance.
Just last fall, we were very successful with our strategy to have several alliance members show up in AR when there was an interesting player to be wooed. Nowadays? Forget it.
Our poor leader spent almost all January visiting and re-visiting AR to fill 2 (two) slots. Several of us would hop in whenever he called for backup … but to no avail.
He finally worked some magic, and we are full again. Thankfully.
But yes: recruiting has become a nightmare.
@Petri I had made a post some time back that alliance creation NEEDS refinement by cost increase or minimum level needs to be raised to 15 or 20. After all this time my point has been validated. When you start or search it will generate x alliances. Half of those alliances are dead. Leaders AWOL for 100+ days. New players basically can create an alliance for free. They play until 5 or 10 and quit. Now others are being suggested to join those alliances. Its broke. Supply and demand is no longer balanced. Simple math and its more serious of an issue then anyone has admitted.
SG is sadly losing money as well…
How? New Player: I start in a dead or half dead alliance and not aware I can leave. My playing experience is reduced drastically because its has no base interaction with anyone. I quit before I find out any information about finding an active alliance or experiencing the game to its potential.
I will say it again, I feel strongly about this because the snow ball effect is happening and if its not corrected soon it will only get worse.