Also, I swear I am not a Vulcan.

Hey, wait a minute...didn't I see you at the Subek Kolinahr ceremony?

Yeah! You brought that awesome plomeek soup!

VULCAN! NUTTY'S A VULCAN!!

VULCAN! NUTTY'S A VULCAN!!

Nutty's made of vulcanised rubber, pass it on.

Bah! I am an elf. I can snap my fingers and all my clothing will iron itself!

Not Drew or Bev, but...

Because we don't think the threads we ask for are unreasonable, and we keep hoping that each time it won't be such a chore.

Let me ask you (and Nutty, and bon, and whoever else) a question: Why do you have to fight so vehemently every time? Why not just vote against it?

Sean, my post was neither pro nor con a gaming thread. I just asked why 2 people I care about are putting themselves in a situation that's rife with obvious frustration for them, when it's possible for them to avoid the frustration by avoiding this discussion.

I wasn't saying they *should* avoid it; just pointing out that there *is* a way to sidestep the frustration if they so desire.

Taken in the spirit, Tep, no worries.

Cool.

I wasn't addressing the subject of this discussion so much as the fact that we re-visit the process every few months.

I'm with you on that. For whatever reason, my frustration threshold seems to be higher these days, but I totally understand your frustration.

(let 'em get their own corpse, for those who were there)

::snerk::

I can snap my fingers and all my clothing will iron itself!

Can you teach me that trick? I look like crap.

Sean, you posted while I was composing, and I'd like to answer you directly. I love you a lot, I think you're a terrific person, and I admire you for many reasons. So please don't perceive this as an attack.

That you want a thread and feel it's a simple thing that should be easier to attain is understandable. In this instance it might even be the right thing to happen. But if you ask, and we say, "Sure! That's a great idea!" and create the thread you want just because it's you, then the next person who wants their thread, and the five after that--what do we say to them?

Anti-proliferation isn't a luddite stance. It's hard to hold a line against people you like or love or respect and their wishes for threads that may sound like something you'd like to visit. But if we acquiesce to requests from friends then we have to, in fairness, offer the same acquiescence to board members we don't know as well, or like as much. Which leads, sooner or later, at least in my mind, to allowing at-will thread creation. And some folks believe strongly that's where we should be anyway.

I'm not one of them, and I do feel segregation of interests, while convenient for busy people with a few narrow subjects they like to keep abreast of, is not in the best interest of the board or of the community. It's just my opinion. I'm obligated to express it. Having done so, I'll be quiet.

Can you teach me that trick? I look like crap.

Yeah, you know, wrinkle-free clothes will only take you so far.

I wasn't addressing the subject of this discussion so much as the fact that we re-visit the process every few months.

Can I ask, because I want to be sure I get what you're saying: do you mean we revisit as in go through this process again, or revisit as in debate the process from a meta- perspective?

Yeah, you know, wrinkle-free clothes will only take you so far.

Well, yeah, but it's a start.

AND...I'm drinkin' milk.

This is kind of a drive-by, because I really should be engaged in something else. But since Sean asked, when was the last time we actually denied a new thread? So what is the fighting tooth and nail a reference to? Anti-proliferationistas always lose.

I fight because (1) lots of people vote no-preference, and I'd like them to actually vote up or down and (2) I do care, and I want people to start caring about fragmentation. In the past year TWoP has been pretty much ruined for me because of all the fragmentation of threads. I think all the fragmenting hurts natter here.

I also really don't appreciate the comments that people who don't want new threads are doing it because they don't want anyone to have any fun, they're mean, they're just like the people who shoved you in lockers in high school. Every single time I personally have explicitly stated that the reason I don't want new threads is because this board is becoming too fragmented, and I think new threads are usually don't sustain enough interest. So you know why we do this, there's no reason to make it about non-proliferationistas attacking the proposer. Everyone gets the thread they want, so the martyrdom is unnecessary.

ETA: Also, you, Sean, cannot have it both ways. You cannot argue that there's no need to worry about precedent in this case because we fight about this all the time, and then lament the fact that we have to fight about this every time. I get the feeling that you're throwing arguments out there to get the thread that you want. I know you feel hurt that people are arguing against you, but I've made my stance clear in every case, no matter who proposes. It's not personal to you, but you are making it fairly personal about people who believe the way they do about proliferation.

AND...I'm drinkin' milk.

Let Emeline's future dates beware!