You have seen quite a bit of evidence, you (and others) just reject it. The evidence is that people think it does, and complain about it in their leaving-the-game message (when you leave the game, there's a final message asking for feedback sent by e-mail to me directly). There were also quite a few postings to this very topic that support the point.
For soft factors like this, impressions matter. If everyone on the block thinks that the new neighbour is a registered sex offender and rapes young girls, it doesn't matter if it's true or not, they will react as if it were, shun him and lock up their girls. That is an extreme example, but conceptually, it's the same. If people think that the forum is a meta-strategy discussion place and that an in-crowd controls it and that unless you "win" in the forum you can't properly play the game or whatever else it is, then that is the damage, even if it is all made-up lies.
Your arguments refuting these things I don't ignore. They just don't matter. Sorry to say it this plainly. Posting arguments why the forum isn't such a bad place on the forum, where all the people who avoid it because they think it is will never see it will change absolutely nothing.
Yes, it's unfair. But let's get our priorities straight: The forum is there to support the game, not the other way around.
And I could get a list of people who came back to the game or who decided to actually try out BM by reading the locals forum. Every person who started playing again or for there first time negates one player who quit. Also if its the impression that is the issue, then we can work on getting rid of the false impression. Some people have a bad impression of the game is a terrible reason to get rid of the forums because the impression can be changed, and the problem solved without having to get rid of a forum people enjoy.
And Tom, people saying I don't like the forum for such and such reason is not evidence, thats an opinion. You saying people quit the game over the forums truely isn't evidence either. Posting at least a number of people who gave the forums as a reason for quitting could be considered evidence, although actually quoting the emails you received where people said that they quit because of the forums is real evidence. If you believe there has actually been evidence of the forum being bad for the game, then quote just one piece of evidence posted. One false piece is egamma's Magistrates links because they all also happened outside of the forums and the forums was a small part of it, where another venue like IRC could have been used if the forums didn't exist at the time.
