Gentlefolks, this thread is not going well today.
Freegrass you should NOT post when drunk. Some of the stuff you wrote should be deleted ASAP. And stop posting every second message on this thread, this is becoming very counter-productive.
Rod - this forum still has lots of value. I strongly suggest to block users who bug you, and to avoid threads you find useless. It would be a pity if you decided to walk away.
Re glennbuck, it is my professional opinion that you are not Phoenix, and I wish this unsubstantiated accusation would stop being bandied around. Phoenix was a strongly opinionated and disruptive poster that re-appeared this year (after being banned last year as "Rich") and mercifully deleted his account a couple of days before you joined. it might help if you post a bit of background about yourself, but in any case thanks for your contributions, and for your willingness to adapt your posting style to improve usability and minimize overload of threads.
Re number of users, the 3995 figure was not representative and was a result of a bug or a bot attack. this happened a few times during the existence of the forum. In summer 2013 these were 50-60 users online every month, yet 694 in August. This year in January had 200-300 users online every day, but around 1000 on Jan 20-21. It's true that last year saw consistently more users, but the drop hasn't been what it seems, and the number of page views hasn't dropped too much either, except for a couple of monthly statistics which are obviously wrong IMHO. Total number of posts actually increased this year, probably due to the Covid thread. Last year also saw more posts in the melting thread, but it was a mostly unmoderated mayhem, as Neven became overwhelmed by the role, and his father passed away.
I urge all to take deep breaths and try to relax. If your post is going to offend someone, please rethink and avoid posting it. If another's post offends you, please click "Report to moderator" rather than waging online war. And if some users consistently get on your nerves, put them on the ignore list so you are able to remain a valued reader and contributor. I promise not to block anyone ever myself, and to fight the trolls where needed, so don't feel you must do so personally.
Remember, we are all here for an important cause.