I guess there wasn't enough discussion going on in the game events sub forum to keep it around. I'll be honest, I didn't really check it very often myself, only when I was gearing up to head to one, or when I wanted to talk about how great it was to volunteer

Speaking of heading over to a game conference to volunteer, I recently applied as a volunteer at Devcom/Respawn, the development conferences preceding the insanity that is Gamescom.

This might be the first Devcom, be it was born out of a need to fill in the void left when UBM Tech decided to pull the plug on GDC Europe. Somewhat similar to what Austin experienced when GDC Online was turned into GDC Next and moved to LA, only to be killed off as well. Is the same true for China?

Seeing how this new con unfolds, as well as the changes that are bound to happen to Respawn is going to be interesting.

Seeing how the new dates for Gamescom might change things, and how much of it I will be able to enjoy with my volunteer duties spilling into is also something I'll need to see. Every year (this will be number 6 if it all goes smoothly) I learn new things on making the most out of my week in Cologne.

I think most of those things you mentioned are in the same situation.

Every few years this web site -- like most of them - get reorganized.  Some popular elements get split so important things get more visibility or more specific participation. Some less popular elements get merged, or mothballed entirely.

For the conferences the same applies.  Popular conferences branch out and grow. Unpopular conferences shrink and eventually close or merge with others. I hope the conferences will succeed and draw a good mix of speakers, presentors, sponsors and attendees, but time will tell.

There is a better-functioning calendar of events on the site now, which includes a lot of stuff. Each of those individual events can be clicked to go to an event-specific page, where there is a place to leave comments and have some basic discussion.

(At least that's what I see, it's possible the comments thing is either private or moderator-only, but I don't think that's the intent.)