<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Punki:
Smeisser it is in fact true that new people have become frustrated with FLyerTalk and simply left the board entirely.</font>
No board, of any format, will ever please everyone. You speak of these people leaving, and of the "high cost" of the new system, yet every day I see more and more posts on FT Miles and FT Travel.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">but their post got lost so they weren't going back there.</font>
How many such people have reported back to you? Imagine how much easier it is for things to become "lost" when there is a great deal of off topic threads in many forums, with the effect of "burying" relevant threads back a page or two (or three).
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Yes, I honestly do believe that anything that drives people away or angers and frustrates them is inherently bad for FlyerTalk.</font>
Well then, let me assure you that there are plenty of people on FT who get frustrated or angered by long lists of off topic threads in forums.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Your arguments totally support my position, and then you turn around and say you disagree? Having "The Buzz" at the top of FlyerTalk Miles worked just fine for years and my bet is that it would still work just fine--an assumption supported by the fact that that is where people naturally post general travel posts. An assumption further supported by the 138 misposted threads and 2,000 misposted responses, plus the ones that I mentioned on the first page that have not yet been moved.</font>
Interesting. I do agree with you that people have an inclination to post wherever it is easiest. I do however disagree that they should be encouraged to do so, as you do. When I open Miles Buzz and I see a thread "What movies are playing on NW this month" (not an actual case, afaik), I don't think this is a good thing. People will "naturally" do do lots of things that are not good, against the common good, etc...
To suggest that the misposted 138 threads lend support to your position is quite a stretch. The (locked) thread "Dangerous virus warning!" from the Buzz was locked for good reason, and I am glad it was. (Instead of remaining open and becoming a magnet for the posting of any PC virus related story from the Chattanooga Daily News.)
You say you have never received a satisfactory answer to your question, but like some here I think you just don't like the answer you're getting. There are now many, many more people on FT than even when I started. In the Fall of 1999 I would keep up with FT by clicking "Click Here To View Today's Active Topics." I can't even imagine doing that now, so I have created shortcuts to the forums I do read. If every new member is sent to post every random question in a general forum, that forum will become the great trash collector of unrelated things, and I for one cannot imagine going in there that much.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> 100 additional threads that have simply been moved to the Aisle of Lost Threads without being locked and without a trace. </font>
The forum misposted threads does indeed hold 101 (updated) threads. And it speaks exactly to the issue of too many unrelated threads in the same forum. On the first page of this forum, here are the total number of replies each topic has received: 0, 0, 0, 5, 3, 0, 2, 2, 0, 0. I bet if you were to ask Randy, he would tell you the reasons so many are still in there is that, simply, there is little time available to move them, and he too doesn't like to send threads in Area 51.
tigertiger (agains!) states: "We now have a direct link to both the "MilesBuzz" and a "TravelBuzz" forum on every single page here. One is for milage program related posts, the other is for general travel talk. I'm not sure what you would consider to be simpler or clearer than that..."
Neither do I.
The rules of FT, which clearly outline the many cases that may lead to action on the part of FT, are outlined here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/rules.shtml
Your gestapo comments and "inside knowledge" to TB members is a bit over the top, as I would expect someone who was on TB (and remains on the AB?) would know a bit more about the operations of these bodies, and the policies of FT.
Besides the single thread you listed as evidence of these "capricious" rules, can you provide any others? You have been here long enough to know (and see from some of the comments posted) that threads having to do with doc's contribution to FT invariably become heated. Rather than allow it to become (more) so, as the answer sought had been answered, Randy closed it.