This website transitioned to a completely new look and feel some time ago, which put off many of the most frequent users and contributors. Fortunately, all of our collective knowledge can still be found among the clutter here, and may users have found their way to facebook.
But yes, this place isn't the same since the cutover. I think that caused the exodus, which may or may not have anything at all to do with the percieved increase in VX sales.
-V