With many thanks to ghoulsblade and hagish of SFZ fame, there is a new Free Gamer forum. :-)
Unfortunately there is no way to transfer to old database over and even if it was possible the majority of useful content was posted during the period of data loss (anything after June 30th). However, lessons learned, this new forum should be more responsive (freeforums.org was slow), have better uptime (freeforums.org was frequently down) and is far more customizable (i.e. expect a FG theme in the near future etc).
Parallel Universe
There's a new release of Privateer Gemini Gold. Bug fixes and some improved artwork prompted the team to release 1.02a just a month after 1.02 - release early, release often so this is a good thing in my book. I'm not sure if they have addressed the reported high difficulty level of the game though. If you find PGG too difficult, check out Privateer Remake and/or Parallel Universe.
Or wait for the new Vega Strike release which is coming in August. It's looking sumptuous.
JCRPG development is still at a good pace. To get an idea of the feel of this old fashioned RPG engine, the author posted a video: