Oh wait, maybe not Bill...ummm... Mario. I owe Mario money.
I think Kairon should leave next so we can have another mega thread with people who haven't posted for a long time.
Who said the thread was done?
Edit: Yeah, I've just been busy and had nothing real to say about things.
As far as Bill goes, I say good riddance. A forum isn't about one member, it isn't about one particular incident, or anything like that. If you don't like what a forum is, how it functions, or anything similar, by all means, please feel free to leave. Mario broke the rules, and was warned. I'm all for pushing and testing the limits with purpose, even if fun is the only purpose, but a warning means you went over the line, and you're being allowed a second chance (often dozens of chances, here especially.) If Bill wants to leave, it's not because Mario was banned, it's because he no longer truly fits in here. The posts I remember most from Bill during my mainstay on the forum truthfully were of little impact or importance. Yes, I'll admit when I lurked and lurked he was more interesting, but things grew increasingly shallow, limited to one-liners, and an anime screenshot, or in the case of the Brawl thread, he posted the news and some wacky words. All-in-all, from what I recall, he was a legacy poster who was more of a monument and less of institution of this forum.
As far as Ian goes, well, I've always supported Ian's voice. In my experience, he doesn't post unless he has something to add to the discussion, and his observations can be insightful, and often, accurate. I don't think there are many people entirely happy with Nintendo right now, but I must follow that up by saying that Nintendo could not exist in any other way than it does now. Had decisions turned in other directions, we might not have Brawl, Mario Kart, Galaxy, Metroids, or Zeldas like we expect, had the Wii not had Wii Sports, Brain Age, and the lesser discussed "casual" games. Ian points out the Nintendo he wants, and I can't fault him for that, because I know I want a few things he does from Nintendo, as well.
When it comes to growth of a forum, well, the truth is, a major portion of the population and forum is attributed to the main site. When it is thriving, the forums thrive, when it is dying, the forums die. Why am I here? Well, the truth of the matter is that I was hungry for E3 information. I've been getting Nintendo news elsewhere, but few places really covered the event well or quickly, so I checked NWR. I was surprised and delighted to see several personalized, fact-based, but opinionated previews and impressions of the events. I figured while I was in, I'd make a note to stop by the forums, and BAM! I found this thread.
My point? The forum is connected to the front page of the site, whether the new or old forum-goers would ever accept that, I don't know. If you want increased forum activity, you should strive to reach an audience on the front page that you'd like to have post in the forums. The best way to do that is to have quality news and opinions often and fast, quite like what I saw during E3, and quite like what PGC was like back when I lurked. If coverage continues similar, or even better than what occurred during E3, that's good news for the forums.
Hopefully that's a little bit of key insight that helps people see my perspective, at least.