yn0t_: 1.(....) Create a new forum devoted to helping out new users(....)
2.(...) ... next forum on the list should be Off Topic. ..... I think people see "General" and just throw their questions/comments out there.
3. (....) General should be renamed "General Empeg Discussion" to make it more evident that it's for Empeg discussion, and other stuff belongs elsewhere.

I strongly agree with #3 and #2 - try to catch OT stuff before it clutters General. Not sure I agree with #1 -- at some point in the not-to-distant future, the number of real "new users" will be pretty small. Also, with all of the excellent FAQs out there, I'd be careful about adding anything that distracts folks from going to the FAQs first. IMO, if the FAQs don't address it, then it would be appropriate for General.

Yes, I myself have contributed to some of the more off-topic threads lately

Well, thank goodness!!! I don't get the sense that you or a majority of folks are hanging around waiting for an opportunity to recklessly pull some thread off-topic. It has happened, for sure, but I would rate your contributions in that regard as well-reasoned, principled challenges to bad BBS juju. OK, so they're emotional and you swear a lot. All the better. (Seriously , I give two thumbs up to whoever turned off the censor feature!!)

, and if I had the power to move those threads into the Off Topic forum, I would have done so.... I love to discuss other things besides our wonderful car MP3 player here, but I think in the interest of making it easier for those who are coming in search of Empeg information, I think things can be streamlined a little.

I've seen a few BBSes where threads get locked as soon as someone expresses a minority opinion or *anything* remotely off-topic. I say thank goodness that this BBS has the resilience and openness not to fall into a knee-jerk posture like that.

That being said, the mention by Rob that some Empeg folks are not reading the BBS due to irrelevant volume is alarming. Not good. If some combination of staying more on topic in particular fora, rearranging them to minimize drift, and reinforcing FAQs helps to increase signal-to-noise and keep Empeg folks tuned in, I hope we can manage to do that.

Moderation? Well, this hasn't been a thread-locking kind of place, but I see the recent lock as entirely appropriate. Folks intent on OT can always post here in OT.

My belated New Year's BBS resolutions? I'll' try not to contribute to OT drift. I'll try to remember that being the victor in the battle for the last word does not necessarily mean you are right.

I have been kicking around various versions of a new (maybe new, I don't know) acronym for use in risk-of-OT-death-spiral situations -- IMOWSJIT or IMOWSJFT (IMO we should just forget/ignore this) -- let someone else (even if I think they are ill-informed) have the last word and move on...