I'm sure there are Reasons. It may be cheaper, it may be lower maintenance. The ROI on forums is likely not as high because the ads they slam you with are far easier to ignore in an environment in which we're just talking to each other.
Remember always that USCHO and CHN exist to make money, and we are the product. We are being sold to advertisers and there is a constant arms race between their attempts to rape our attention and our attempts to protect ourselves. Situations in which we can withdraw our attention from their garbage are inherently not in the interest of those sites to continue. They aren't malicious, but they aren't charities.
The irony is we don't need USCHO at all. All we need is a stable forum platform. They, on the other hand, are utterly dependent on us. If we go away they crater, instantly.
So, we have power. If they institute changes that suck we need to let them know. If they aren't responsive we have to be willing to leave. I appreciate the existence of USCHO and have been a paying member since forever, but I am also not a charity, and when it's no longer worth the bother of navigating through their insulting and debasing ads, it's time to go.
