Quark Forums missing--Eddie loses it.

Quark: Products - QuarkXPress User Resources: "Note: User forums are being restructured. Check back periodically for updates on this effort. "

I used to be a regular contributor to Quark's user forums, until Quark took them down--on the very same day they announced the release of version 6. Maybe I'm just too cynical for my own good, but it's hard for me not to suspect that Quark really didn't want to support an unmoderated channel for comment about their product.

I've e-mailed Quark on several occasions to ask when the forums might return. I have to say the response has been somewhat unsatisfactory. Their regular customer service people directly quote web pages but say little else, and they're purposefully vague about a timeline.

I did a little better with a sales rep I met at the "Driven by Design" seminar in October. He didn't have an answer when I questioned him on the spot (no surprise, since at the time he'd only been working for Quark for a week), but I followed up with him by e-mail and got this response:

"What has happened is Quark moved all there servers etc. whitch brought down the forums down. I have been told that the forums will be back up Jan 2004 ."

Now that's about the lamest excuse I've ever heard. On the plus side, at least there's a stated time line.