I miss the way the forums were between September 2009 and January 2010. I truly believe that was the Golden Age of the Warriors & Seekers Official Message Boards. The snail posting function had just been removed, much to the rejoice of the majority of the community. However, dozens of members disappeared during this transition due to the forums' new enforcement of the COPPA law. Previously, anyone could make any number of accounts without revealing identifying information such as one's email address or age. This allowed people in the target age group of Warriors and Seekers (under the age of thirteen) to easily create accounts. Once the transition occurred, younger members were no longer able to access their accounts, unless they submitted a letter of parental consent. I'm sure many members followed through with this, (I being one of them) but one couldn't help but notice that the forums' active population had dramatically dropped. Meanwhile, allured by the removal of the snail posting system, a new batch of members quickly repopulated the message boards. At that point in time, there still weren't very many members-- nowhere near the whopping 67,940 forumers there are today. And it was wonderful. Fewer members meant fewer morons-- there weren't nearly as many "desperate she-cats", "Warriors weddings", or snobby, arrogant "OTD populars". Another thing that was vastly different was the way the forums were run.
Back in the day, the forum rules were much more lenient. The only stuff that applied back then was the basics; no swearing, no personal information (as in full names, addresses, etc), no inappropriate/sexual discussions... stuff like that. Posting outside links and images you didn't own was perfectly acceptable back then. Heck, you were allowed to have debates over religion or "adult subjects" (unless they got too out of hand). Half of the things that aren't permitted today were absolutely normal back then. Pretty much everyone was happy then. But of course, the administration had to go and screw everything up. Like the old saying goes, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
I don't know when these changes began to kick in. I guess it was more of a gradual thing; it was one thing after another. One of the first things to go was our ability to post outside links and images we didn't create. We were disappointed, but in the end we all got used to it. Another thing that soon disappeared was our right to discuss "touchy" subjects. Again, we moved on. But as time went on, things became more and more ridiculous.
Obviously, it's now the year 2012. The forums have grown significantly since their humble beginnings in 2009. And somewhere along the way, Harpercollins decided to enact dozens of ludicrous principles, which severely hinder the rights of forum-goers. What's more, most of these rules aren't even stated in the official forums guidelines! There's a whole slew of "ghost rules" that half of the forums are generally unaware of until it's too late. The mods strictly endorse the following rules, despite the fact that they aren't actually officially stated anywhere:

- You can't mention any websites that aren't part of Harpercollins. You can't discuss say, Neopets, or suggest someone to Google something.
- Friend codes from video games count as "personal information" and may not be shared. The same applies for usernames on other sites, such as deviantART and YouTube.
-Signatures must be under four lines. (The mods seemed to have a problem with my three-lined signature as well, though.)
- You may not speak in foreign languages or post any words that aren't English.
- Karma games such as "The Person Below Me" and "One Word Thought" are prohibited.
- You may not discuss mod-related actions (deletions of topics, suspensions, etc). It also seems that you can't say anything even slightly negative about the mods, even if you're giving feedback. The mods are always right, apparently.
- Necro-posting is not allowed.
- GIF images are not allowed.
- Only heterosexual relationships are appropriate. You may not speak of/role play/write about other sexualities.
- Apparently you cannot discuss things along the lines of stalkers, because they are too 'scary'. You also aren't allowed to talk about weapons.

I believe there are more; these are the ones I could name from the top of my head. It's very disappointing that people get punished for not following these so-called rules. What's even more disturbing is that even the mods, the strict enforcers of these "rules", don't follow them at times. The most frequent offender is 'Matthew - Moderator'. I've spotted him speaking to someone in Japanese, and he's also been seen posting on karma games. What's funny is that he always posts a brief explanation as to why he's closing a topic before he does so; I reported a karma game that he posted on, and he deleted it without saying a word. The moderators are nothing more than hypocrites that abuse their administrative powers. It's almost sickening.
Another thing I found particularly disturbing is that the mods seem to not mind if you state that you're a Christian in your signature. Mentioning religion in any form isn't allowed, supposedly. I saw two forumers with signatures that stated that they were Christians recently, and I reported them. Absolutely nothing happened; either that or the offenders quickly changed their signatures back before I noticed, which I highly doubt. My signature once stated that I was an atheist, but the mods swiftly attacked that. Even if I changed it to 'non-believer', they still erased my entire signature. I've never seen anyone else mention a faith other than Christianity in their signature, so I can't verify whether or not they're intolerant towards only atheists or any religion other than Christianity. Either way, it's intolerant, and it reminds me of Acebopata... someone I thought I had rid the forums of forever. Unfortunately, it seems as if his behavior lives on in the form of the moderators, the forumers he looked up to the most. Speaking of Acebopata, I was also disturbed to find that my non-aggressive request for him to be more respectful was deleted. I didn't attack him or anything. Was it because I spoke of other religions? It didn't make sense to me; I was trying to get him to stop offending other religions. Isn't that how it's supposed to be on the forums?
I don't understand why the mods can't simply update the rules. It would make things a whole lot easier, even on themselves. People have been petitioning for the mods to add the ghost rules to the official guidelines, and nothing has been done. What's the point of the Feedback and Suggestions forums, anyway? None of our suggestions, many of which would greatly benefit the forums, are ever taken into account. It's pointless.
I hope something is done about the ridiculous administration someday. I doubt that day will ever come, though.