Game servers for SA-MP, FiveM, VC-MP and Liberty Unleashed

The most commonly used place to ask questions, request unbans, post complaints, request refunds, organise events - you name it, is obviously forums. Forums are used for all sorts of things by users. I have joined this platform almost 9 years ago, and a lot has changed throughout the years on forums. To say it bluntly, forums have become less interesting in my opinion.

Throughout the first years that I have played here, forums used to be more interesting. Players were generally allowed to share their opinion if it had added value and staff members often took them into consideration. Threads used to have more of a active discussion with players and admins sharing their opinions, while admins still had the final verdict obviously. This resulted in longer threads and interesting discussions that were worth reading, with players even being able to influence the final decision by admins if they had very convincing arguments. In the links below you can find examples of more lively threads and discussions from years ago:
https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/24488/?page=1

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/35015/?page=1 (read thread 1 and thread 2 first)

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/41351/?page=1 (read thread 1 first)

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/26707/?page=1 (read thread 1 first)

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/29199/?page=1 (read thread 1 first)

In my first few years on this platform, I used to read threads often as they were worth reading and most of them were quite interesting. But as the years passed, more and more active users started to play and thus more reports and complaints were coming in, which made it more time-consuming for admins to deal with threads on forums. Understandably, the decision was made to make forums more standardized to make it easier for admins. For example, reports and unban appeals are to be posted using a specific format and usually only admins will react, giving their final verdict. Other players are not supposed to give their input. Using a more standardized way spares time for admins. However, it has also made it less interesting for me to scroll through forums and read threads since there are less discussions. Here are some examples of more recent threads below:
https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/103101/?post=863883#post-863883

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/103828/?post=863613#post-863613

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/104386/?post=863863#post-863863

https://www.gta-multiplayer.cz/en/topic/96540/?post=814317#post-814317

As you can see, not much to read here. Do not get me wrong, I fully understand that admins are put under more strain nowadays as there are more reports and complaints with more active users, and that the most logical way of alleviating this issue is standardizing the forums. But personally, I have found forums less interesting than before. I have gone from reading lively discussions with players and admins involved, to forums that is only worth visiting if you are making a thread yourself (with several exceptions, for example Comments to updates on SA-MP occasionally).

To conclude, while I understand that the changes in the community forced admins to change the way in which forums is used, it has certainly not made it more interesting for me to read forum threads. What to do about this? Perhaps give players more freedom to use forums, hoping that users will more often provide arguments, share their input and make forums more lively again. Users that make useless posts can be banned easily. That would be my suggestion, but for now forums will remain less interesting to me.