That's discriminatory and unworkable.

Why? They already have one (or they used to) for people of the staff.

Do you mean the staff forums? No good discussions are going on there, or at least there were none during my time there.

Plus, the exclusive club is so much smaller.

Section 8 could be restored, from what i've heard, that used to be the special zone

As for the topic at large, i don't see where the bitching comes from about the forum buddy. I fucking love the forum buddy, and whish every forum or comment-space on the net had one

Ah, that... that section was actually an anomaly or something. It disappearing caused some kida split between certain members and ioi.

I would suppose it also has to do with the fact that the forum section on the starting page (I mean that "Forum Hot Topics" column) has been getting less eye-catching over time.
The active forum users on this page of course know where it is etc., but people who haven't been actively using the forums might simply overlook it, as in its current state, the "Forum Hot Topics" section hidden on the right column of a crowded starting page simply doesn't catch match attention in my opinion. Less attention = less views.

1.  This site isn't, has never been, and will never be just a forum.  I understand your sentiment, but the perspective it's coming from seems a bit off.  There will always be more to this site than that, but there are ways to make the forum itself just as enticing as other forums around the web, and there are ways to integrate other aspects of the site such that they won't detract from the forum.  I agree with your general line of thinking in regards to that.

2.  I agree completely with the bolded.

Yeah, Section 8 was actually a site fluke.  It was considered "special" because so few people knew about it, and those that did weren't keen on spreading that information around.

It wasn't really a place for veteran members so much as it was just a place for the friends of the guy that first found it.  A lot of great people never even knew it existed until well after it disappeared.

And the staff forums aren't meant to be be a general forum exclusively for staff members.  It's intended solely for the discussion of website related topics that other people aren't meant to see.  In-progress articles, moderator guidelines, etc.  Everything else is generally discussed on the main forums.

I thought this would be a good place to explain my absence over the past month and a half (as the community here is the reason I come, with the actual sales becoming less and less of a priority). It actually started with me going to the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It was quite euphoric, and you could almost see the excitement in the air. Everyone was there because they loved Harry Potter, and wanted to celebrate over 10 years of books and films. It was quite the celebration.

Afterwards (the movie was excellent by the way), I actually started thinking about my time here at VGChartz and the experience I've had with the community. Are we here to celebrate this hobby of ours? I mean, despite our different "factions" of Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft/Mobile/Etc., we're all here because of our love for video games right? We have that in common, and that common thread should unite us in some way or another.

But when I looked back I just saw all of us warring against each other, fighting for every sales scrap (Oh look, ____ sold more than ____, my team wins!) and metacritic score (____ has a better score than ____ haha!). I just want our discussions to be about how fun that new game is, or how excited we are about the new game about to be released. It's why I took over the Most Wanted articles, and also the gamrConnect Celebrates articles (although these aren't doing to well, which got me frustrated :P). I want this place to be a celebration of our hobby that we love, and not so much teams trying so hard to beat the other guys. I admit that even I get caught up in the sales figures and all of the other factors outside of the actual game itself. When that happens, I need to step back and re-figure why I love this hobby, and that's what I did.

I have to admit that in my month long leave from this place... I really didn't miss it. I got to actually sit down and play some games during the time, and didn't miss talking about their sales figures or metacritic scores or whatever. I just sat down and enjoyed them. It allowed me to get my head screwed on right, to get my priorities on my stance on gaming right. I really enjoyed myself this past month, with 100% Lego Harry Potter (a lot harder than it sounds... but ultimately satisfying), replaying and 100% Galaxy 2 ("The Perfect Run", you are one tough cookie), finishing up Ocarina of Time 3D, and going back to WarCraft III (because I can never truly leave that game. :P).

But I'm back because I love you guys too much, and because I do feel that VGC can be a boon for me when it comes to this hobby of mine. So uh... good to be back I suppose. :P

I check here once in a blue moon.

The forums here are annoying to read. Forum posts take up way too much space on the page so there is a lot of scrolling involved to skim the posts. The green forum color topic text is also just obnoxious to my eyes.

I agree with other people's comments that since the hardware war isn't really hot right now, the conversation isn't either. Given the other problems, I don't even bother to see if the self-appointed game company fanatics still run rampant.

I'll probably swing by another few months to see if the layout has changed at all. Kind of a shame, it looks like so much work went into making the site kind of a mess. I think the site has lost touch with the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle.