d) Will this BBS remain, or will operations move to riocar.org?

Both this BBS and RioCar.Org are unofficial resources run by owners. As long as there is a desire to have the site, I see no reason to close RioCar.Org, and I'm sure Paul feels the same way about this BBS. Both see additions from the empeg folks, and will probably continue to see them, even after the Mark II is just a memory. And the user community at this point I feel has only gotten better, not worse after the announcement.