imported post
I would like to throw out something about changing thread titles: There are rare occasions where the thread title is absolutely inappropriate for the thread topic, and previously when a mod/admin I would edit those titles, or the OP would ask that it be changed due to an error. In those cases I have no issue.
As a regular reader/follower of the forum though, I do find it frustrating when thread title are changed because it can make it difficult to find a thread again. The search feature on WowBB is not particularly good (actually it is particularly poor) making it even more frustrating when thread titles are changed. I would hazard a guess that regulars waste more time due to changed titles than newcomers do because of poorly written original titles. Just my .02 on the subject.
I would assume that John and Mike are by now aware of this and the related discussions on the forum. Someone in another related thread, I don't remember who though, made the good point that this forum is used as a source by certain media. Because of that I can well understand John and Mike's concerns about "mission creep". On the other hand, as I stated above in this thread, I also think that is a good reason for an OT/non-OC/non-firearm section where we discuss other issues so that those people looking at the forum for source material can clearly see that we are real, 3-dimensional people for whom firearms, 2nd Amendment, carry rights and related issues are only one part of our worlds. While there is great value in a tightly focused forum, there is also value in re-examining the direction of the forum, relishing that one has provided a public venue in which like minded people can share many interests which only strengthens our personal bonds making our joint efforts on the original focus of the forum all the more possible and fruitful.
Just because we have on OT forum also does not mean no more moderation on the rest of the forum, nor that anytime a thread becomes OT that it automatically gets moved to the OT section. OT needs to be in and stay in OT. The delineation should be obvious to everyone and if not, properly enforced with appropriate moderating. Also, I don't think most of us embracing this idea are envisioning an OT section where we can just say anything, flame anyone and have a free for all. I think we are mostly on the same page that we want an area in which we can just have regular conversations. If we all met up at a picnic, we are not going to spend the whole day talking about guns. "Hey Bob, so your so-and-so from OCDO, nice to meet you in person. blah blah guns. So are you married? Really? How many kids? Oh that's a great age. What do you guys do for fun? Really, me too. Have you ever been to ...." etc. Again, just because we have regular conversations about regular things going on in our regular lives that reach beyond firearms in an appropriate designated section doesn't denigrate the mission of this forum.
For the record, I wouldn't say anything if I didn't care. I'm not joining in the discussion because I dislike OCDO or want to make it into something different. I'm jumping in because I do enjoy it, I appreciate and support the mission, respect and appreciate what John and Mike are accomplishing here, and I want it to be more important to many of us by having the freedom to deepen our relationships and shared interests.
