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I'm with Reckoner on this one. My experience is that the declining activity has been a real let down. I used to love the times when I could have so much discussions. Sure there was a lot of crap too (like the amount of time I wasted arguing that Naruto would ultimately end up with Sakura XP) but I still found it fun. Now I feel like I have to put in effort just to stay active and even when I do post I feel like I'm talking to air a lot of the time. I've even sometimes found myself deliberately being stubborn on arguments just to find an excuse to be more active. That's how sad and deprived I am. XP
When members say that they had rubbish experiences with the reputation system and the activity then I can believe them. But let me point out the fact that the whole reason we're having this discussion in the first place is that the Awards (which everyone here still appreciates) has been in serious jeopardy and now we're even having to downsize it. That's also a consequence of the declining activity. I don't mean to belittle other people's perspectives here. People have had different experiences on this forum and I can appreciate that. And if you guys still think the trade-off is worth it, then I can't convince you otherwise. But I do feel the need to at least get a word in because the last thing I want is for people to believe that there is a consensus on this when there isn't. In fact I'm pretty sure there are loads more that would agree with me. You just won't hear it because most of them have already left. And for what it's worth I liked the reputation system too: It was what kept me interested in this site during my dumb socially withdrawn teenage years. XP
I'm also really worried that this forum is going to die and I'd hate for that to happen. I feel like there's a lot of misplaced optimism that activity levels have plateaued (or will even increase) but I'm not convinced. I've seen forums die and it kills a part of me every damn time.
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