It's always sad when people leave (voluntarily or involuntarily) the forum, but I'm sure these decisions aren't made in haste by Emma. She has made her position very clear on the prog cream thread, so we need to respect that decision and leave it alone now. Quite possibly there are issues that we aren't even aware of. There are always two sides to every story.
People will return if they want to, or are able to. Life will still go on without them regardless of what they do, and there are plenty of other people to share opinions and suggestions in their absence. Let's hope we can all get back to normal viewing now, and everyone will respect other people's opinions without resorting to any kind of nastiness or silly come-backs.