I'm going to try and explain just a bit without stepping on any toes. Keep in mind that I do not work for renderosity, I'm just a merchant here. The merchants forum was more than just a place to talk about improvments to the Marketplace. If there was an issue with a product or an overall question that the answer could benefit all merchants this was the place to post it. If there were problems with the store such as an items going missing, renderosity uses this forum to contact the artist or artists in a general fashion. It was also a place to look for another merchant to assist and team up with in order to put out a package. This could be considered not a renderosity forum, but rather a mervchants forum. One for merchants to discuss developments behind the scenes. This forum was given under the merchants agreement that every merchant has to sign. It has now been retroactivly taken away. Many of the merchants now banned from this forum were some of the ones that had the most to contribute. This not only removes thier voice but also hamrs the rest of the merchant community here at renderosity. Granted we can go elsewhere for this same info, but where does that leave the merchant forum here? I can only post this message and can't really post the rules given as that could be considered against the rules and henceforth cause myself to be banned from not only the forum but also the site.