If we had 180 users active at this board, it is entirely possible that the problem is just too many users, too many threads, too many posts.

In which case I think we should consider voting people off.

Cause, dude, total good use of voting. Think of it as a daily recall election.

Or not.

If we want to eliminate bloat, then by all means lets toss Natter and Bitches. Cause those are the majorly high traffic resource hogs. With the death matches, quotables has been so much fun, but often filled with one liner posts. Or maybe we could have a yea or nay on all threads and only the most popular win.

But each of these has a much larger effect on the nature of the board then the cleanup we are doing.

So, it comes back to who are we? What do we want to be?

I doubt it will ever pass a vote

People can vote themselves into People's Forum, then, you know?

So, it comes back to who are we? What do we want to be?

We are a community with a smoldering house, and we want to be finding the fire extinguisher before we have to spend 40 years in the desert.

In which case I think we should consider voting people off.

And here we are.

It goes hand in hand with the "toss Bitches and Natter" plan. I love it.

Now we're gettin' medieval on the problem.

It's a problem. Natter and Bitches are for many people where the community actually lives. The show threads are where the show discussion takes place, but a lot of us got to know each other in Natter.

I don't know what the response would be to a proposal to close those two threads. On the other hand, if it's a question of Natter or massive closure and consolidation of everything else not very directly show-related? Hmmm.

I don't know what the response would be to a proposal to close those two threads.

I would expect it to be pretty overwhelmingly negative, for this reason:

It's a problem. Natter and Bitches are for many people where the community actually lives.

But if it's those two threads or the entire board, well, we'll learn to live without them. We'll start nattering in the show threads again. [edited to not sound INCREDIBLY harsh and mean. some typos are bad!]

Losing the Farscape thread will have the net effect of a hamster fart in a hurricane. Loosing Natter or Bitches will make a difference.

And when Natter/Bitches have moved to other threads, we'll keep consolidating down until...one thread with LOTS OF WHITEFONT? I mean, given that Natter fills the vacuum (i.e. any thread it can) do we become No-Natter Nazis? I don't mind bailing on Natter and Bitches, because the reason they came into being (i.e. swamping the Buffy thread) doesn't exist, as long as we have an Angel show thread seperate from all the the other discussion (plus spoilers, quotes, etc., within reason).

It's a problem. Natter and Bitches are for many people where the community actually lives.

Yup. I came for Buffy. I stayed for the natter.

And, of course, since we've expressed a desire to keep the Buffy thread open, we close Bitches and Natter, and Buffy absorbs them both, though again at a net loss in volume (though whether even that's good enough still remains to be seen).

It's a problem. Natter and Bitches are for many people where the community actually lives. The show threads are where the show discussion takes place, but a lot of us got to know each other in Natter.

I think this is the heart of it, on some level. We started or came here because of Buffy and many stayed for other reasons.

On the other hand, if it's a question of Natter or massive closure and consolidation of everything else not very directly show-related?

Do you mean upper or lower-case natter?

Other "solutions" designed to thin the herd:
1. Even/Odd Posting days. Justl like filling the car tank. You got an even user #, you get three days. You got an odd user #, you get three days. And then there is a day of rest.

2. The Elitist Solution. People with numbers over 500 are cutoff.

3. The next person who numbersluts is summarily shot.

Um. Those were all I had.

But if the eliminate Natter and/or Bitches is serious, then I would propose people pick one to save or kill both of them.

massive xpost

We do need to preserve as much culture as possible, because what's the point of saving a board no one enjoys, i agree.

However, we may not have a culture to preserve. We want to talk about Angel, we want to Natter, we want to Bitch.

But it's like this.

We're in a restaurant in the middle of the desert. There's no place else to get a meal.

There's a thousand of us, all at individual tables (computer) . We all have an individual waitress (connection) 250 want meatloaf (Natter), 250 want fried chicken (Bitches) 30 want the veggie plate (Smallville), 70 want scrambled eggs (Angel), 20 want quiche (fic), 20 want creamed spinach (Atlantic canadians) 20 want shrimp (Spoilers) 10 want imitation crabmeat on a roll (spoilers lite), 30 want coffee (Firefly) and so on. The rest is a hodgepodge of blue plate specials (Sang Sacre, Due South, PPO).

The problem is, there's only one cook in the kitchen, and while he can make one huge mutherfucking meatloaf and a few side dishes, he can't keep up with all the orders at once. He's going to have a fucking heart attack and then we'll all starve. So, we need to cut down on the menu items so that we'll not go hungry.

Some people will venture out into the desert in search of creme broulee.

Others will learn to like meatloaf.