I still read NWR on a daily basis for my fix of news and such; it's one of my bookmarks!
One thing I learned since starting my first steps internet forum posting was to not take things so seriously. PGC, back on ezboard, was my first forum, and I daresay we were the life of things here.
Over the years, things got a little more awkward than they should have around here (trolls, a hell of a lot less people, etc). Also, my own attitudes toward things changed, as they do in life, and I stopped posting regularly probably well over a year or two ago.
It was interesting listening to the drama happening on the forums here from Bill, Mario et al on MSN, and when it comes to these things, I trusted their opinion that something really did happen to these forums to make them so cynical and hostile. And several times have they made mention of Ian, amongst other posters.
It may be a change in the attitudes of posters, it may be the staff, it may be because of Nintendo's success in the casual rather than hardcore market, whatever.
The staff have a problem on their hands, and several senior members of the community are voicing their opinions about it.
It's time to get your hands dirty and get even more involved in order to fix this!