Since the "Southern Barbarian Invasion" expansion was released, the Alliance's population had already neared the six-million mark.
Dawn City and Boulder City, the most populous and densely populated cities, had both surpassed one million permanent residents, with the former racing toward two million.
Meanwhile, Dawn City, with its concentration of industry and research facilities, and Falling Leaf City, a transportation hub, were both approaching one million permanent residents as well.
This included not only migrants from other regions, but also many newborns born on Alliance soil.
After the "Chewbone Rebellion" ended years ago, the Alliance experienced a baby boom.
By now, the children born during that period had entered kindergarten, while the teenagers who had joined the Alliance back then had gradually grown into young adults.
It was not only the Alliance's population that was growing, but the number of players as well.
As more and more vaults were unlocked, the number of closed-beta accounts had gradually risen from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand, with one hundred seventy thousand already distributed.
During the distant alpha testing phase, the ratio of players to NPCs could barely remain between 1:5 and 1:10. Now, the number of players had been left far behind by the explosive growth of NPCs.
Still, that was inevitable.
The vaults alone could not sustain a civilization. After surviving the harsh winter, the vault dwellers of the old era would eventually scatter their carefully cultivated seeds and hopes across the land...
The official website of Wasteland OL.
At the daily peak hours for logging in and out, the forum was as lively as ever.
New and veteran armchair players exchanged guides and experiences, while the seasoned drivers kept making their usual dirty jokes.
Compared with the brakes slammed by Train No. 97 and the ideological and cultural