Okay, I think I'll have a say here, not sure if anyone will listen, but here goes.
Whether this is a welcome change or not & how much it will affect overall activity on the Forum, I'm not very sure, but most of the Layout does look good.
The only section I have issues, actually lots of issues with, is the Community Square Section, so I'll take that up bae.
1. The main problem I have is having "Forum Games" under this section. Trivia, Underground & Playground cater to different audiences & the kind of games in those sections are mostly different from each other. There are people who are working on trying new things to make the gaming sections more interesting & making Trivia & Underground seem like side-notes won't help at all. There should be a completely separate Section for Forum Games & The Playground, Pokemon Trivia & The Underground, should fall under that section.
2. Feedback is important right, but Feedback & Support is located right at the bottom of the layout. Why?
3. Main Street should be one of the First sections that any newbie views. As a Community its important to make any new User who registers, feel welcome, whether they decide to stay for long or not. I've been quite active on that section recently & I've noticed that many newbies who register are hesitant & shy at first, which is quite obvious, coz its a new place for them, hey I was one of them once. Seeing an introductory Forum at the top, makes people more comfortable & more welcome. Putting it at them bottom will only turn people away, normal human psychology.
4. Also, maybe move Off-Topic away from there & give it a separate Section. "General Entertainment" can have Video Games, Entertainment & Media, Anime & Manga, Food Fashion & Fitness, even Science & Technology (would still look cluttered though). Round Table involves discussions that are much more serious, so keep it & maybe New Leaf, separate as well.
5. In a community that boasts of over 6 lakh Users, I fail to understand why there isn't an easy to access Members Directory. No really, I want to know, why not? Maybe add a "Member's Directory" as a Section Under Community Square.
As for the other sections:-
Pokémon: General Discussions, Fan-Made Games, Create & Discover - No complaints.
Pokémon: Main Series Games - Although I'm not playing Sun & Moon, it does make sense to have it as a Parent Forum, coz they are the newest games. Maybe in future have separate Sub-Forums for GBA, DS & 3DS games, but not necessarily, coz the horizontal layout does look fine.
Pokémon: Play Together - Maybe move "Challenges" into this section, but otherwise no complaints.
Imo, the Layout can be:-
Community Square
Meet & Greet
Feedback & Support
Member's Directory
Pokémon: Main Series Games
As it is (for now).
Pokémon: General Discussions
As it is.
Pokémon: Play Together
As it is.
Forum Games
Pokémon Trivia
The Playground
The Underground
Fan-Made Games
As it is.
Create & Discover
As it is.
Off-Topic Discussions
Round Table
New Leaf
General Entertainment (with all the Sub-Forums mentioned above, but it can be worked on more)
There u go.
Not necessary that everything be so, but this does like a good layout to me :).
Pika Pika :chu: