I gotta say I'm kinda surprised the community is still going.
But I was a significantly different person then. I look back on many of my posts and cringe. The unabashed family values, loveism, racism that I just accepted and perpetuated as part of gamer culture is astounding. While I grew out of those mindsets the community never seemed to change and I gradually grew more distant until I pretty much left around 2014.
Honestly, I've been struggling to find the right words, but your post says what I've been trying to type so well. So, I will piggyback off of it.
I spent such a large portion of my childhood on these forums, but man... This place and the time I spent here, while very nostalgic, fills me with shame and a deep sadness. As several people have already said, the lack of moderation as well as the encourgement of hate by Badspot, really didn't do this place any favors. From slurs, to homophoba, common sense, and child enthusiasm, this place has all of them in spades. Hell, I'm sure its baked into the forums. The last time we see this kinda stuff will be the last post here.
I'm a bit out of the loop on bisjac, outside of the obvious admitions to being a child enthusiast, which is obviously way too far for any forum. I agree that someone should have done something to prevent predators from preying on children. I can name one user in particular who did quite a bit of grooming on me, culminating with me sending literal child research to this individual. All to say, I agree with you Colton, Badspot and his ego are to blame.
On one hand, I'm glad for the experiences I had here, but on the other hand... forget this place. I come back every now and then, just to see whats up, and I'm never impressed. The fact that even in a thread dedicated to the toxicity of this community, theres still the same exact brand of hate, says enough. I can only hope you guys grow up, so that you can look back at these posts at cringe.