Originally Posted by
Ocn Vw 1K
3) Specifically as to nsx's point as to thread mergers, our members' wishes range the gamut from having no mergers ever to merging everything whenever possible. A number of members regularly let us know about merger candidates so we have no shortage of members to help us there. We seek to implement a merger protocol that will balance: the ability to find threads efficiently, the avoidance of too much clutter on this very busy forum, but also the recognition that some threads may present different enough variations justifying stand-alone status. It's definitely an art and judgment calls are involved.
I forgot that the busy forums have an embarrassment of riches with RBPs. On the Southwest and JetBlue forums, we are lucky to get just one or two RBPs flagging a problem, so we encourage RBPs. On a busy forum, that could be too much of a good thing.
The OP is apparently in the category of members who would prefer more merging. The mods try to strike a balance that suits most members, and I believe they succeed.
At high traffic levels, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain usability of the forum. That's why some sites have user-configurable topic filtering. Filtering might allow the user to mask most complaint threads, but we have to wait until vbulletin gives us that capability.