Lol, what wretched BS! Disagree? Okay:
1. I challenge you to name even 10 regular posters who left of their own volition after that and because of that. Name as many as you can. Prove your claim.
2. Of those 10, I challenge you to name even 3 who didn't eagerly come back when we offered amnesty.
Well?
I guess I can tell my story in the era of post Derek, I reached out and contacted many of the formerly banned posters and put them in direct contact with Derek to have their accounts reinstated. This was after a couple of long phone conversations with Derek right before the mods were made public. Derek corrected some misconceptions I had about the mods, and I have long ago apologized to Red and GB for trashing them when other mods were in fact responsible for what had assumed Red was a part of.
I can name 3 who said no, but I won't out of respect for them and the fact that they're not here to defend themselves. I will say they felt slighted and wanted an apology more than amnesty.
I do think some of the rules are rather silly, but I do agree with the vast majority of what is done and has been done, I know the mods being public isn't super popular with the mods, but I like it a lot. With transparency comes accountability.
(& I think you're doing a good job as forum admin Perk, you've always been straight up honest with me, and open to discussion if there's a concern)
As far as OT slowing down, it's been happening for a long time, I hate that it's happening, but the only constant is change itself.