I don't feel like I should have to narrow down date ranges, though I end up doing so every time a search returns forum posts. The algorithm ought to know that something posted six weeks ago is much more likely to be relevant than something posted six years ago, but older posts seem to instead have more weight in the unfiltered results rather than less.

The point of the search engine, at least to me as a user of it, is to get results that are relevant to my needs.

Every tweak you require me to apply in order to get the results I want is an area in which someone else can beat you.