Having been banned a few times from other martial arts sites...I can attest that it's not the increased freedom that keeps a modicum of civility. It's the heavy modding, instant banning, as well as a level of self-moderation by the members. The owners of two MA sites are very active...and will ban on a whim.

There's an old saying, 'Don't poop where you eat.' You (not directed at 'you' Cord...the general, plural 'you') may not mind your own excrement, but members at other sites do...and get rid of you quick.

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Or is it maybe the increased freedom on other forums in regards to conduct that allows things to flow more freely?
The only other forum's I have used have been 1 about movies and 1 about punk music- both have been full of abuse, mod power abuse, threads allowed to go off topic, and essentialy as close to truly 'free speech' as possible. This does mean that idiocy is given free reign with only other members to shout it down if they so choose, but it certainly keeps the post count high

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Yep, I was banned from karateforums because I wasn't in agreeance with the crowd. I wasn't rude and just stated my opinion..no loss there.

I was banned form e-budo,but I can't remember why.

If there was FA.com merchandise and related material, I know that I'd buy it.

I was thinking, for example, what if we took some of the main contributors to the forum and collected the info from our posts over the years to make into a small text which could be sold in the website's store? (with the appropriate permission of course) I'd even give the info away free if it would help with reviving the site. Admittedly, it's really unlikely that this sort of thing would happen, but that's the kind of material that sells really well on these kinds of websites.

There's got to be a reason for people to come here other than just for being referred to the FAQs. Maybe setting up some kind of regular article posting from some of the more experienced members of the forum, kind of like a weekly or fortnightly article on some aspect of MA? I'd be up for writing something every couple of weeks, if I can think of something to write. (Making sure you keep it relevant to your own personal experiences. Some examples of titles could be: The culture of the Asian vs. Western MA classroom or What to expect from your first tournament)

I think that if we want more people to come to the forum, we have to think of them as prospective customers and find out what they really want out of an MA forum. If regulars really want people here, I think we have to put some effort in making the environment worthwhile for visitors. I don't think it's entirely a money issue. The number of people on the site was already falling even before the ads came to FA.

That said, if this sounds like too much hard work, then we could just all find some other site to post on...