Bruce:
I've been on the MR forum for some time now, it seems to be as busy as RMR once was. A recent thread on RMR was about how slow things are, and many suggested a lot of the regulars have migrated to such forums as MR, the Atlas one, and Yahoo Groups.
As for glowing accounts of MR, there have been dissenting voices all along. With so many posts, I don't imaging you had the chance to check out too many. Here's a recent one:
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Seems in the May MR (haven't got my copy yet) the editorial refers to changes in the magazine, one of which is the dropping of the local show listings. This generated a lot of talk, almost all of which was against the move. There have been similar threads bashing MR as being too simplistic these days, catering to the RTR crowd, only featuring large expensive layouts, not many construction articles, etc.
The only censoring that is evident is to certain individuals who do not abide by the forum rules. One particular jerk has been kicked off but keeps sneaking back in, but they delete his threads when they are noticed. He was using foul language, demeaning other modelers, etc. He was supposed to have been banned from the Atlas forum, but he's back with a current thread under a new name.
They also have a language filter that replaces naughty words partially with asterisks. It seems to be too functional at times, replacing innocent words, but it isn't a real problem.
I think on the other thread re quiet times on RMR I may have mentioned that I follow other newsgroups related to photography, and they have become almost useless due to the relentless efforts by resident trolls. They post the most vilest messages, personal attacks, and other disruptive tactics. So following the MR forum is like a breath of fresh air after all that crap.
I recently joined the Atlas forum after hearing a lot about it, about people moaning about it being down at times, etc. It's about the same as the MR one, with less traffic and many of the same posters and same messages too. But it is moderated, so hopefully they will keep the deranged under control.
The MR forum has become to me the RMR that it once was. Give it a try!
Bob Boudreau