Most of the original goals for Epochtalk have in fact already been completed in the current software through work by myself, PowerGlove, and others in the 10+ years since the idea of new forum software was first contemplated. Since 2011, we've added trust, merit, 2FA, "evil fees", watchlists, drafts, a sane reports system, and many other improvements on stock SMF. Going forward, we will continue to make improvements to the current software. One of the most requested features is improving the forum's usability on mobile devices, and that is already being worked on.
Sad to hear and read that goals and expectations from the hired company was not filled for the money that you and the Forum has invested in that.
On the other Hand it maybe was for a good thing as such Users you mentioned " PowerGlove " have done more great things in a year for current Forum Software as others for the new one.
At this stage i drop a very big and awesome thanks and respect to PowerGlove for making a lot of improvments to the Forum that you only have to modify for it.
Really to mention is the 2FA feature and this will be also my highlight for the Bitcointalk Awards 2024.
Even the Software or the looking is old school we should keep what Satoshi started, the Forum is a milestone and history at the same time.
We should preserve this.