if they banned signature ads would this forum still exist?

[BlackHatCoiner]

Since then, not much has changed

Lots have changed. Bitcoin Discussion is flooded with spammers. The purpose of having an account from the majority of users is clearly speculative. Their spamming behavior affects my ability to use it for a constructive dialogue.

Of course and there's goodwill to use this forum besides money making, but I can't deny the fact that its freedom of speech has been abused, which brings me to another thing to discuss:

I'd rather get rid of bounty spammers though. Paying in Bitcoin means someone puts some real value into advertising. Paying in made-up tokens means they have nothing to lose.

Doesn't that go against free speech? I thought bitcoin left room for other projects to grow; that it's open, transparent, unbiased. Yeah, I'm against those ponzi-looking made-up tokens too, but the last thing I'd want is to see bitcoin's usage being forced somehow.

[BITCOIN4X]

The forum's user base was much lower at a time when bounties, ICO, and all other fundraising processes were not in the favor of many a few years ago although at the time it was also affected by a falling market cap. Concerns arose that a number of forum users had become inactive, but now the base has increased. This shows that when the signature campaign or something that benefits users on this forum is getting lower, this forum will experience a decrease in its usage base.

So it's probably true that the forums will only be used by really serious bitcoin enthusiasts, but if they're no longer profitable in any way, then they're also going to be inactive in my opinion.

[stadus]

The forum will surely still exist but the number of members will reduce. Signature ads is an opportunity for some people to earn money and that makes them more active in the forum. I've seen some good posters in the past who wears signature at the same time, but when they were kicked in a campaign or the campaign is over, they are not active anymore, so this really tells that signature campaigns creates traffic for the site which is helpful for the forum to get more popular.

[OgNasty]

Sure it would still exist.  There are some people here who do things because they're cool and not to try and profit.  Granted the amount of posts would likely fall by more than 90% and the posts that continued would likely just be trolls calling the few left doing things here scammers and trying to derail their efforts.  There would still probably be people trying to sell things in the goods section (but nobody with any BTC to spend on them because no signature money) and I'm sure the good hearted folks in the technical sections would still be doling out help.  This meta section though, toast.  Same with gambling.