I have mixed opinions on this suggestion.
On one hand, although development discussion should be around for proper debates about development topics, it’s clear that no one has been using the category that way. I have not seen the state of development discussion right now, since I removed it from my feedback a while back to remove the temptation to reply to them. But from what I’ve heard, it’s only gotten worse.
On the other hand, Regulars can be just as bad as the members. Not as much Regulars that are known to break the rules exist, but this makes sense because promotions have been paused for over 2 years now.
In short, nearly no one uses development discussion for it’s real purpose. The real question is if it’s still worth keeping around.
I agree. (though the forum has been slowly getting unlocked with an example being replies to Feature Requests being unlocked for members.)
Hooksmith mentioned on how DevRel is now focusing on improving the Forum, so we should be expecting more favorable improvements over time.
One great addition so far has been the creation of the #help-and-feedback:platform-usage-support subcategory which has removed a significant amount of off-topic posts in other categories. Truly wonderful that the new subcategory was created.
I have honestly have not seen categories like #help-and-feedback and #bulletin-board get trolled. If anything, #help-and-feedback and #bulletin-board are targeted the least.
You’re looking at the wrong perspective. The point isn’t to focus on the fact that the members would lose access to post in another category. The point is about finding ways to fix development discussion by any means, because it’s literally the most problematic category in the DevForum right now.
TL;DR
I will not deny that development discussion can be used for good debates, but we should be asking why we should keep development discussion at all, since all it’s been doing is ruining the DevForum lately from my perspective.