Brian1971: Fencer said, several years ago, that he was not as dedicated or enthusiastic. He also said then that the site could no longer be his priority. I must admit that I'm surprised that it comes as news to you.

You're right that a perceived lack of interest will result in the loss of paying members. There are gammoner Pawns here who would have gladly renewed their Rooks if their requests, you might even say pleas, had been answered. Sadly the impression has long been that the gammon variants, despite being collectively the site's most played games, have not been considered important enough to fix various issues. I forget the details but the Backgammon forum has plenty of words about them up until people gave up trying. And where is the AutoPass for Ludo? I think I've wished for it almost half a gazillion times!

Your perception that activity is dwindling is a correct one. Two years ago, in November 2013, I took a snapshot of the Running Games page. The number of started games was 53000. The November 2015 page showed 33750. Today it's 31150 (although that difference may well be seasonal). I did take a couple of snapshots several years before 2013. Unfortunately they got lost but I remember noting that the 2013 figure was definitely lower.

But it's not just BrainKing. DailyGammon has seen a decline in numbers and Pocket-Monkey struggles to fill its fast class of tournaments. The years have seen other sites and a whole new mobile market to entice people away.

With regard to memberships here, there are 52 Rooks, 10 Knights 5 Bishops and one Forever Knight showing for this year. That's a total value of 2367 Euro (assuming 12 months for the Rooks and Knights), and that Forever Knight will, by definition, contribute nothing next year and thereafter. I have to believe Fencer when he says that memberships are the least contributor to the site's profitability as that sum may well be gobbled up by the Internet Provider alone.