John seems to be the root of the problem.
He keeps referring to a "base premise", but I strongly doubt the two sides currently have a mutual understanding of what the premise is (y'know, since he wants everything but a forum merger, while we seem to consider a forum merger to be the entire point). He also seems to struggle to hold a consistent view on what he is expecting and why he is expecting it. It's one thing to adjust yourself as negotiations go on, and another thing altogether to just keep randomly throwing things in based on undisclosed reasoning. He also states what his userbase wants, but where is he getting this information? If they're feeling as strongly about things as he says, how come they're entirely silent? Sure, it's possible that it's happening via PM, but surely someone would speak up by now? So far, the only people on his side who did speak up did not seem to confirm his story.
John has been kind enough to point his finger at an approved negotiator on our side, and even more kind to name two people who categorically can't be negotiating on our behalf (myself and Thork). I suggest that we do the same by requesting that John and SCG are not to be their representatives. I have nothing against either, but I don't see those conversations leading to fruit.
I also share the concerns raised by Rushy in this thread. It sounds like they're looking for ways to kill us off without saying it. John was pretty explicit about it when Parsifal mentioned Twitter. Given that we've now easily outgrown their site, we would not benefit in any way from simply handing over our success.
It is also interesting to see that their members still think they're the bigger site (see Boots's post, for example). This is easily verified by looking at any web traffic analysis company's data. Perhaps this is why they're still acting like they're in a position to simply demand that we give everything up?
Finally, I will point out that John's recollection of Thork's "terrorist" scheme is extremely flawed, to the point where it should be completely discarded. I want to keep that matter as private as can be, so I won't be revealing any messages that were exchanged, but at least now it's my word against his. Make of that what you will.