For me the number one reason to stay on a server for a Work In Progress mod like Exile is having admins who actually play (fairly) so they can respond quickly to any problems, and know the bugs from a player's perspective - and don't just delete your base and ban you when you kill them too much like on some servers! The Badlands admins are pretty faultless in my experience.
The core group of players I see online are a pretty good bunch, most are active doing missions or whatever hoping for some PVP like I am, and will usually congratulate you on a good fair kill once the dust settles - exactly how a game should be.
The rules are pretty simple too, compared to a lot of servers I've played. Most stuff is handled by the game mechanics and you have a lot more room to be creative with things like base locations and fighting near traders. This means you can focus on actually playing rather than worrying if you're too close to XYZ at any given point.
The admins are also very good at announcing changes and updates on the website, and most importantly they are always happy to hear feedback about any aspect of the server - and several suggestions have been implemented in one way or another to improve everyone's game. For example the quantity and quality of roaming AI on the server have each been tweaked several times as the player population increases to keep everyone on their toes, without overcrowding the map.
I whole-heartedly recommend this server for anyone who wants to have some fun with a great bunch of people without having to worry too much about the kind of player that takes things too seriously and cries about it for 2 hours in side chat.
