I too am sad to see people staying away and hope that the improvements that have been made will keep some of them around, but there are many different factors that contribute to changes. Suldaledhel has mentioned that vintage members have discussed so many topics that they tire of them. The demands of real life shouldn't be underestimated either - family and career/studies are high on the list of priorities, as they should be!
I must confess that I have a rather Elvish dislike of changes and tend to mourn past good times, but if there's one thing I've learned from Tolkien, it's the fact that change belongs to life and needs to be accepted.
I wouldn't risk a prediction on how long I will be around - who knows what life will bring? And there's no guarantee that the Barrow-Downs will be around forever (gasp!)...
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
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