I'm gonna be honest...I voted no here!
I understand why this upgrade took place, and form the looks of it, there were some nice technical changes all over the place, and some fresher ideas here and there, but one of the reasons I loved this site was how easy it was to read. For instance, right now, I'm not a fan of typing this message across the entire span of my browser page. Just so you know, there are optimal line reading lengths for most people, which you can check out here...
http://desktoppub.ab...line_length.htm
Within the forum, there seems to be far less contrast now that the white is gone as well. The greyscale pallet of the past seemed to make all of the avatar's and sig's pop out quite a bit!
And the front page isn't too hot in a few ways... it feels a bit off. For instance, whats that random gradient just to the left of the Latest forum posts area? And the transition from that box to the news is rather awkward. I think keeping them as separate entities makes more sense than trying to make some kind of transition between the two rather unrelated elements.
Also, stick with the consistent font of the site for that Latest Forum Posts sign as well. Jumping between fonts without a really special reason is generally a big no-no!
And loading forum pages is slow as balls for me for some reason. And the whole site layout is completely broken in chrome, even though it loads.
All that said, while I may not be totally pleased with the layout, Sir Mutely, you are the MAN for finally taking action on our once old, decrepit site! I appreciate all your hard work, even if it looks like I'm kinda slamming you up here. Im just hoping that you can use some bits of my advice and criticism to make the site better! And above all else, Im just one person, and the majority seems happy overall.
Keep it up!
PEACE