That's not a reason to give up. Maybe this time it will work. As pg says, this is an experiment.
The problem of retaining the character of a site while not just letting it stagnate (as happens when you start doing things like cutting of new memberships or restricting new user posting) is a very hard, and as yet unsolved I believe, problem. But solving hard problems is what it's all about, right? :p
All successful forums grow big and become worthless. The Y C kids need to learn this.
Never gonna' give you up Never gonna' let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.