They could have found a way if they had given a shit. Give the forums the option to take over hosting, or transfer them to an internet archive. Hell I bet there are enough data hoarders that would have been delighted to help ensure that data remained accessible without costing photobucket a dime.

This is Lemmy, and if Lemmy has taught me anything from the constant repetitive YouTube posts... Then the answer is unironically they absolutely expect that.