Hi All

So, I had considered something for a while now, and honestly given how common this is and how much it seems to affect this community I did wonder if people thought this might be something to be see here or FA or on it's own site, etc.

We all know of those artists who seem to just vanish, yet for the most part we need to wait ages to learn of their reason for vanishing, and oftentimes we never learn anything at all. It can be infuriating for those who commission or follow or join their Patreons, and it can be anxiety-inducing for those who don't know how a person they admire can just disappear without ever knowing why. However, I am also convinced that many people do actually know the sincere details of an artist's disappearance, they just never know or really bother to say since there isn't any location to formally give info to help those who worry.

So, would it be possible for somewhere to be produced that could be like a database of artists, where a person can ask about an artist who vanishes. Either they first search the name and see if this database already has an answer or someone else asking (and they can add their +1 to the curiosity), or if not they can add a new name and ask the community if they know anything. And then, anyone who gives genuine info can come and give the explanation there. If possible, it could also have a reward system where people can get some sort of points towards some ranking in a place like e621 for trust-building or something.

What do people think, or perhaps do people already know of such a place?

Artists go "missing" all the time; the possible reasons for disappearing can be from general inactivity (can be from the site they frequent, but still active in private servers), on hiatus, stuck with piles of commissions/art block, fled with commission funds/scammers (check Artist Beware), actually missing, or sadly passed away without anybody knowing.

A problem with creating such a database is with maintaining and ascertaining the facts behind an artist's disappearance. This is a problem in itself, since most of the time it will be from hearsay by someone completely unrelated.
Who is going to be allowed to make a status update? Who is going to check the sources of the claims? Who is going to maintain such a database daily?

Another problem I can imagine is that it seems like a major privacy violation.
I can imagine if I were an artist, I would not want to have a label slapped on my name, especially one that says "missing" or "inactive" when I could just be taking a break.

One thing that is remotely close to that idea is FA-Cemetery, but that deals with actual passing of artists on FA and does not seem to be actively updated anymore.
However, FA does have a feature for a third-party to mark an artist as "Deceased" if there is verifiable proof that they had passed (e.g., an obituary).