Maybe. Maybe that's what the mods want, though? Who's to say that the mods have any right to make major changes without consulting the community first? Then again, who's to say that the community has some inherent right to have things run the way they want?

Mods said it themselves, they're willing to lose the numbers. So, call their bluff. See what's really more important to them. Their vision or the sub's numbers.

I've been around Reddit for a while and dealt with many subs doing things like this or similar. I sympathize with the mods because I have seen and experienced first hand how community's change when they start hitting bigger and bigger numbers. To the point where I've realized that sometimes, it's definitely worth it having the smaller numbers, fewer posts to have the overall better conversations without having to wade through the "popular" shit the community puts on top.

I also sympathize with you and the community. Fucking nazi mods. On the other hand, the community isn't just a 4,5, or 6 digit number, but thousands of people coming together under a common interest, core ideas, to share an experience. And to have such a tiny percentage (<.0001!) make sweeping changes without consulting the community? It can easily be viewed as a very disrespectful act, I wouldn't disagree with a statement like that.

Sorry, I'm rambling now. But I hope you get the spirit of my message.

tl;dr, I don't disagree with your intentions and I have definitely seen my fair share of beloved communities fail either from dictatorial mods and large subs devolving to low effort posts. It's tough to deal with. Best of luck cause F1 racing has the best fucking cars and races.