I remember those flame wars and the number of times OMNI was closed up and members suspended, banned, etc. But what's always made OMNI fun was that it was a relatively safe playground for FT members, not a performance for the whole of the web. Another vote for logged in members only.

I don't want to sound snarky but, it sounds like FT needs a Home Entertainment forum now as well. Maybe I'm really good at visually filtering thread titles, but I honestly don't see those types of threads in OMNI.

I hope it works out, but personally I think it takes something away from the community. I'm not a passionate OMNI poster, but I enjoy reading the threads of others who are. FWIW, I also think separating out the PR threads was a bad idea as well. It's akin to taking a beautiful Vegetarian Curry and serving as separate courses. One is too intense to actually eat and the other bland.