Good places have good moderation. If the moderation is poor whether it's a Discord server, Telegram group or a forum people are going to feel less incentivized and encouraged to participate, which is going to be one factor for activity and interest. And people may just lose interest as a result of finding other things to do, may not have time to be much active, +++. Activity may just dwindle naturally which is something staff needs to take into consideration as I don't find it a good idea to possibly alienate the people who do show interest in participating.
When it comes to the idea of a Debate Pit, the concept of challenging and being challenged, you will be treated as everyone else when you choose to enter the arena whether as a member of staff or as a regular member. I lose respect if a member of staff is going to enforce rules arbitrarily whether they are participants in the DB or not. The second iteration(the current one) is far, far better than the previous one that was quite a mess. When the second iteration initially started up the rules were understandable and acceptable albeit somewhat stricter than what I were ordinarily used to(got used to them arguably pretty fast), but over time things just started to go downhill with rules that make no sense and stricter and stricter rules of engagement to the point of it outright being suffocating to people here, activity and indeed interest outright dying as a result. People have no obligation or duty to stay, and I have no intention of being in an environment where I feel like I am suffocating.
There's been a lot of interesting conversations, topics and takes in the DB and I've had fun interacting with people in there. Though I wouldn't miss it if it were to finally be yeeted into the Sun. It wouldn't take away the bonds I've made nor the friendships I've gained.
That said, I greatly appreciate the job staff have done to the place over the years, and kept it running as well as it have been. Thank you for the job you have done and are continuing to do.