I think people are reading far too much into things.

I don't think this board is dying at all, and I don't think it's any worse than it used to be.
People come & go. Just because someone who's been here a while decides to not be here doesn't mean it's the end of the world.

I can remember a time on this forum when people like Tore, Bulldog, Jackhammer & Mr Dave were not here. Did the forum suck then? No because there were other people there at the time. Those people left and were eventually replaced by the members I just mentioned.

Will a blog make any difference? Personally I think not. I don't come here to read a blog I come here to chat to others. If I want to read a blog i'll read a specialist one dedicated to the subject I want to read about, not an all encompassing one that might not have anything on it that'll interest me.

Personally I think if people go around with their head up their arse complaining 'it's not as good as it used to be' all the time it'll put people off, and then the place really will die.

I think a blog would be great :) Even if it wouldn't be interesting to people outside of musicbanter, it could serve as a portal to what goes on on the forums. Kinda like this :

Ehr, sorry for not writing an example about music, but anyways - it would of course have several such blogposts on the mainpage and stay updated with the most interesting threads/write-ups/going-ons.

I have no problem with people wanting a blog.

I just think there are things that would make a bigger impact on the place that should be done first.

Like a chat room & extra PM space.
Things that people would actually use.

Definitely. I visit a gaming forum that has their own "front page" for news and reviews and all that. I'm thinking the same kind of thing could work for MB, though maybe a bit more forum-focused.

Similarly, on a political forum we have a "breaking news" section. It helps frame discussions even if they aren't completely related. With music that may end up being arguments on music more so than album reviews, but its worth a shot.

I've already sent a PM to Yac asking if it might be possible to host such a blog. I wrote perhaps we can first make a sort of draft-blog and host it on blog.musicbanter.com so that admin and others can see what it would look like/be like before it's actually implemented in the site in a proper way. I'm guessing it won't happen, but asking doesn't hurt :)

That's exactly the kind of thing I mean.
A front page with selected members articles etc. With the existing forums beyond the front page.
Nothing radical at all. Just an upgrade to make this old place look more presentable while the mods and Admin determine the format and content.

^ You probably guessed right, though it won't hurt to ask.

Speaking generally. So we can remove any negativity here, this should be a positive thread about where MB is going and not one about it's misconceived demise.
Just to echo Big3's opening post. He's not actually saying anything is wrong with MB as it is, but he does raise the question that this place is in danger of losing it's appeal after a while.
That certainly seems to be the case with some of the longer standing members who have left over the years. And it always seems the case that those older members that do leave, do so feeling a little disillusioned.
And it needn't be like that.
Not when you can get those members actively helping the site move forward in order to keep their interest.

I may have jumped the gun, but it was a little hard to read your Vegangelica-esque disertation there. My bad. Not trying hard to be right- would rather be wrong, as I enjoy frequenting here. I just think that without admin support, places tend to fall off... Carry on like it never happened.

I've felt like this occasionally myself, but most of the things I get particularly familiar with, be they message boards or, I dunno, eating tuna and pasta for dinner, start to lose their shine eventually, so it's certainly not something I blame this place for. For me it's just a question of doing enough here to keep myself interested - if this place is boring, I try my best to make it un-boring again. A kind of facelift that's already been mentioned numerous times for this place would make that a whole lot easier for all concerned.