However, I completely agree with you on the rating systems. Nobody should put those on their boards. I always wonder why people do.

It's an attempt to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio in an online discussion. It's supposed to be akin to having a moderator, but without the need for an actual moderator. It's one of those things that SOUNDS good on paper, but doesn't work well in implementation.

I was discussing this with some friends who were asking themselves the very question of how to handle an online group discussion without introducing too much noise. And one of them was championing the ratings system.

I think what makes this BBS so great, and what gives it such a low S/N, is that the topic is focused enough, and the number of active users is small enough.

Then again, one of the persons in the discussion I mentioned above says that this particular BBS has way too much noise, and he complains vehemently about that fact. So I guess there's no pleasing some people.