It is probably not going to be that easy but I will look into the code...

The problem, as I see it, is that there is no single method for determining the status of a user. Each forum user may well have a different methodology for doing this. We can, of course, make a determination but the impact on the stats query would not be nice.

But I have no stopped trying to work something out that might do the job...

If you mean is there a database entry specifically to hold the top posters list then yes there is. But it is also re-queried regularly (by default once an hour) so that it is kept up to date and this requery will then change it back to the proper list.

If you mean that these user records exist then yes - again they do. But removing them manually would render their posts orphaned and probably cause chaos al over the place!

The only realistic way of doing this is if we can find a safe way to massage the query.

When one of your users dispenses with their membership, what do you do with them? Do they get moved to a specific SP user group?