I agree, it has, and I don't want it to get any worse. But if the existence of splinter communities within Buffistas isn't caused by the threads where those communities spring up, then what is it?

Cliques just happen?

I have no idea what caused these splinter communities to happen, other than some of us just don't like others of us very much.

That has nothing at all to do with new thread creation, and stopping new threads altogether won't prevent it from happening further, and won't fix it.

pssst, Seanie

I think you are missing the "out" part of without in your second to last post .

At least I hope so.

Oh dear dog.

That really changes the meaning of the post, doesn't it?

Leetle bit, yep.

That really changes the meaning of the post, doesn't it?

I just figured you were about to propose we change the name of this thread to Thunderdome.

Thanks, Perkins. I'm sure I make enough of a fool of myself without typos helping the process along.

I just figured you were about to propose we change the name of this thread to Thunderdome.

Two Buffistas enter. One Buffista leaves.

No thanks. I'd probably be the first one dumped into the cage. Probably along with a couple of bears, a lion, and a cobra or ten for good measure.

I'd just toss you in there with a Monkey, who has a gun.

I'm voting [....] I would however like to note my support for discussing it.

I'm... I stepped away from the argument when I felt attacked a couple of days ago, and I tried not to think about it, and came back to it today to see if anything new had been said, and...

You know, I feel like the whole conversation is going in circles (okay that's normal), but I also feel like we've lost sight of the fact that discussion is normal and required for thread-creation. We designed the process to have this many days, and its own discussy thread, for a reason: to suss out what the consequences of any voted action will be, to clarify what's being voted on, to persuade one another to different positions. We did that on purpose. Discussion is not an accidental side effect.

And votes have gone through without hurting people's feelings, too. Movies and Music were both voted in without heartbreak. The vote that got us a Veronica Mars thread was relatively painless, and the vote that closed the same thread was even easier. I don't think there is anything broken with the process.

If there is anything wrong with how we vote, it is that our discussion is not comprehensible one party to the next, or not kind, or not able to be receptive to kindness. It spurs my anxiety, as an anti-proliferationist already, to see this verbal fracture. It speaks to divisions and grudges -- which, frankly, everybody has -- that we're not willing to set aside, that we're not willing to forgive or accept or understand in one another. It spurs my anxiety about where this board is going, when I don't feel my position is considered reasonable, or when I can't comprehend the reasoning of my opponent. It makes me feel a little less welcome, and less welcoming.

And I hate that shit and would like everybody to become a fluffy puppy forthwith.

Wow, I guess I don't see THAT much drama. Some want a new thread. Some think that their friends might go play elsewhere if there is a new thread. What am I missing?