while when there was a chat, it was more just everyday talk and stuff.
Agreed.
Bring back guys like delph and a few others and you will get much more traffic back to the site i'm sure.
Traffic remains as strong as ever. The quality is what matters, not quantity; hence, the recent shake-up. I'm sure nobody was 'banned' for nothing. There was a choice - to ban a prolific poster who would personally abuse others or to let it go. We let it go for as long as we could but then it was unfair to others. Still, anyone deserves a second chance and we welcome anyone as long as they don't repeat the same steps that could not be accepted by the rest of the community.
Chat was a temporary thing that might answer a question, but it would not stay for other users to read if they had the same question in the future. Besides, it was too often a place for personal games and agendas that continues into the forum discussions.