if we could've done things differently
I believe it all depends on the approach server admins took. If MCGamer took the path that Mineplex and Hive took, which was to =branch out into numerous different gamemodes and minigames, things would definitely be very different. I wouldn't be surprised if we had incorporated different minigames at the time of their rise and immediately saw growth in the servers.
However, I don't exactly like the approach as it fosters a weird community. On one hand, there are many new players, but they aren't connected as much as we have right now. In hive (I can't comment exactly, as I'm not too familiar), I assume there is a SG community, a hide and seek community, etc., all loosely combined under the "Hive Community." On the other hand, I look at the MCGamer community as more of a tight knit group, with almost everyone focusing on the survival games and more or less unified.
In all honesty I believe that if we hired more Staff / Sr. Staff back in 2013 - 2014 and increased our focus on clans then multiple more members would have been attracted. I feel that the recent hiring of 18 Sr. Staff was a needed change for a long time.
Lastly, perhaps more community competitions, like the PMC contest, could have really helped the servers (and now).
Sorry, this is kinda a loose jumble of my thoughts
