These forums and software were never designed for the amount of social chat/games etc we have now - it tended to concentrate on science and support along with team recruitment threads for members to swap information etc.

The chat room tended to lean towards threads about related topics and articles for discussion etc rather than a social meeting place for games etc. - for social chat, games, drivel etc folks tended to use there own forums or some of the outside forums such as The DC Zone.

Obviously we now have a large influx of folks who are used to a different syle of forum, and naturally they have tended to re-create what they have been used to and enjoy.

There is nothing wrong with this, and I'm sure that in time when the more important project improvements have been dealt with, the much needed forum improvements will happen - in the meantime perhaps we should all be aware of the forum limitations before creating threads and ask whether it is really needed at this time.

Let us not forget..
People are different. Some are serious, some are full of fun. The common link to us all is that we are here! We are ALL crunching away, trying to rid the world of a lot of nasty's.
Let us therefore not criticize each other, but work together for the common cause. Those that mentioned "not contributing" should read "On this Day", I think they will find that a certain Gentleman, has already contributed far more than many of us ever will! He is a member of the Edwardians, who together in just one month, have produced over 6000 results. I am pleased to walk in his shadow!
Come on you lot, lets all work together, for the common good!

The point was raised about WCG not being a social club. And that happens to be true - it's not. I believe it is appropriate that it have a social aspect to it however and such non-discussion threads as games are a part of that. So are most of the posts I've made and the majority of the threads I've started. The fact that HD is in fact a true cruncher is something that was obscured by some snafu regarding how he was registered - thus inadvertently creating 2 identities. Hopefully the admins will get around to fixing whatever that problem was. In the meantime, we stand corrected. However no one wants to see a situation arise similar to what we had at Grorg - where people could register as a forum member with no verification of their identity. A logical extension of keeping non-members out is to insure that people who call themselves members really are. In other words, members, by definition, are people who contribute to the project. If you don't contribute, you shouldn't be considered a member - and it doesn't matter who you are or what you may have accomplished in the "real world". Who you are here and what you contribute here are the only criteria that should count. It appears HD meets those criteria (at least from what I've read here), so he qualifies and should start as many game threads as he deems appropriate.

Mensa's just another team and I'm pretty sure no one checks to see if you were ever really a member. It's more a state of mind - no double meaning there - just like all the other teams.

I've never claimed that being a member means I should be treated any differently. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't share with the community here things you've done and experienced. I've set up threads for just that purpose.

I think you're missing the point that if someone starts a thread and no one else contributes, that thread gets buried. So the "market" determines how many games threads there should be - not HD - since if no ever contributes to a new thread, it will disappear. If it doesn't then that means others share his interest and should be permitted to do so.

Sorry if you think I'm an elitist. I suppose in some ways I am, but to compensate, I go out of my way to make sure that I'm fair and respectful - although I do regularly put my foot in my mouth regardless.

Every team has an element of pride - it wouldn't be a team otherwise. Maybe you're not happy with what I choose to be proud about, but that's your issue, not mine.

I haven't been here long enough to know what the admins will and will not do, so I can't really respond. My impression is that both admins and CA's go out of their way to give people as much latitude as possible. I think that's a good thing. With a lot of games threads be the final straw that makes them start clamping down? Don't know. We'll have to see I suppose.

I don't know why you think I'm being pretentious, but I suspect that whatever I say, it won't change your mind, so . . .

As for a porno thread - we both know that's a non-starter by virtue of this being a family friendly site - in theory if not always in practice.