I suppose forums will always hold nostalgic value to me as well as sentimental. I met Steve on an SEO forum back in 2006, married the poor guy in 2007 and 20 years later, I'm still on the boards, albeit in a much lesser capacity than when I was in my 20s.It says something that we have been here that long. Take it from someone who's migrated from forum to forum trying to find a place. I went from IGN to Devil's Lair to Phantom Babies and back and forth till I found something here. I ultimately ended up hating each of those forums, expect DL. That one just shut down.
That's largely down to most of the users no longer being really young either - the need to win every thread isn't particularly prevalent anymore, for any of us. With great age comes...
...well, arthritis, knee problems, back problems, a growing sense of irritability, a burgeoning interest in garden centres and a desire to have a nice sit down as often as possible.