I mean honestly you probably shouldn't get your hopes up, that place will not be the same after the whole API debacle because so many people have left reddit and aren't coming back. I don't doubt whatever r/196 will be after reopening is gonna be a hell of a lot worse than it was.
Yeah, which just sucks. It used to be an amazing place, yet due to people leaving after the API changes and a horrible way of handling the situation by the mods, the community just seems to be scattered so much that it no longer feels like one. It felt like a safe place but now, after all of the debacle, it's just impossible to wrap your head around.
It's happened since the start of the Internet, and it will keep happening until the end of time.
Reddit ruined a good thing and it's best if we just move on and don't look back. Start a new community and let the old one die because it will never be the same.