RC is alive and well, this forum has never kept up with the times, and now it's perhaps too little, too late. RCG might be the Toyota Corolla and RCU is the Pinto. Which one captured the market, especially after the fire?

Navigation and bugs plagued the site for years. Not software friendly, I use RCU as a DO NOT DO THIS reference when creating new websites in my consulting work.

A younger generation that is buying a modern RC product, getting their youtube reviews from established people is the new way to get answers without a forum. We use phones to talk, they use phones to text. If it's not a video product review, they have no use for this forum. It's geared for us old folks. That's fine, but make more categories and don't trash the new stuff so much.
They have no use for a forum that uses phrases like "instant gratification" or "weekend pilot" or "another drone pilot does it again" so there you have it, the fastest growing segment told to get lost. You got a 50 and over thread, but no teen chat? How obtuse can RCU forum staff be? They know where RCG is, copy the heavily used categories. No law against it. I know a manufacturer that literally buys all their competitions products and cuts them up, makes copies of the pieces and manufactures the same thing with their name on it, maybe a upgrade here and there for marketing, and they are growing rapidly. Steal what works, put sprinkles on top, and call it your own.

Baby boomers are dying off, many are dead or half dead, and will be missed. Poor health ended the hobby for many. What does a BNF, self flying drone, RTF foam guy need to log into RCU for? Also the classifieds are not worth posting if your ad expires before you get any inquiries.
Check out the attachments. Tumbleweeds and crickets in the stats. But it could be the ball game, you'll need to check after Valentine's day and see if anyone else posted here.

RCU catered to glow, and glow is on life support.
RCG dominated EP, seeing the future.

But the atmosphere on any forum is crucial to welcoming new members, where is the introduction forum to do that?
They do not have a feeling of acceptance or welcome here, the forum had it's clique for a long time. You can see that has moved to RCG as well. RCU only recently recognized they weren't putting enough resources into the quality of the site, just let the damage go on for pages. RCG is repeating that error. They refuse to do anything but follow some point system that ages out to a clean slate every 3 months. Give it time, they'll suffer too.

Last one to leave, shut off the lights. "If I ran RCU" I'd start looking for another job, fast. It's still 4 steps to upload but I've been doing it awhile. I can spell too.

Follow the decline of glow engines, kits, ARF's, and all the traditional products that are being replaced with BNF, drones, FPV, and you see exactly why RCU is going away with it. It's not the primary segment as it was 15 years ago. Where are the contributors to the new stuff? You see little support for users to run to.
It's not rocket science, if a hillbilly from Tennessee can do it....