Joe,

An interesting question was raised in a squadron discussion. It has always been my understanding that 8 human pilots in Jane's F/A-18 multi-player is the hard limit. That's true, right?

If that is the case, why did the guy who developed Hyperlobby include the "Big Raid" room to accommodate well over 8 players? Wishful thinking? Was there an intent at one point to try to increase the number that could fly in multi-player?

Or is there some strange magic that would actually allow more than 8 now?!?

yes 8 players is the MAX Hardcodded Hedgehog...maybe in the future we will get more

Yep, AFAIK 8 is the max. I have no idea why the "Big Raid" room in HL exists. Perhaps the HL creator didn't fully understand the limitations of JF-18 multiplayer.