Posting nonsense here makes werid sort of sense,
Even if sometimes it causes an offence.
But I really'd like to say in my defence:
The temptation to post nonsense is immense.
And sometimes it can be used to build suspence,
Even through it's often gets completely dense.
one can allways learn the effects a pepple has on water when dropping a new stone into an old pond.
"When you throw pebbles in water, look at the concentrating circles made by them, or else the act of throwing will be just useless entertaiment, nothing more".
-A Wise Man
thegab03 wrote:
Leave -Help set a New Chess.com Record- alone, for is it not just innocent fun for some people, it causes no actual harm to nobody if anything it brings a smile to one's sour face!
Just trying help it along, in my own small way. It's so successful that it shouldn't be at the top of Hot Topics - it should be in a league of its own. It's become an institution; a 'monstrous carbuncle on the face of an old friend' {c.f. Prince Charles}. Ah, give the other poor topics a chance!
Rael, you either die the hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. One day perhaps, you will end up like cheater_1 and the two of you will troll every topic on the fora.
I've been on a fair amount of internet fora in my time, hell I've done some moderation on some. They're all the same when you get down to it, people just enjoy having their voices heard, they wish to become a major poster, so they fill the thing up with rubbish, until it becomes pointless to seek actual advice.
There are always useful threads here. The 'Game Analysis' section is great and most of the posts there are meaningful, 'General Chess Dsicussion' has a nice variety and there's always something to interest people, 'Chess Openings' is a good place to offer and seek meaningful advice if you find the right topics.
There are other places however that have been tainted, perhaps desecrated by the internet poster of today. Take the 'Daily Chess Puzzle' for example. There is a de facto rule that you must exclaim your posting position, rarely does the actual analysis come in until the second page, but many people miss that.
I have seen a deterioration in the content of topics in general, when I first joined not so long ago I was amazed at the sheer number of chess topics and I looked through them to see good solid advice and algebraic notation. Now I see less of these meaningful topics, people have moved on to their groups, shunned into the darkness by the unrelenting nonsense that is the world of internet fora.
You ask what should be done, there is no easy answer, there are still useful items on the fora, worthy of one's perusal, but these are the nuggets in the filth. Maybe this was designed as a chess playing site, but I enjoy the discussions, I like seeing other people's games and their points of view on my own. Somehow we set out to please everyone, but the situation is worse than before.
If the influence of moderation becomes greater, you have to be careful, this is a firendly chess site, not a totalitarian regime. You'll walk a thin line, and sometimes the right decision isn't always the right decision.
If you stifle the fora outright, there will no doubt be outrage, you must do it subtly, secretly bump topics that you think are worthy, add comments expressing your interest in a topic and yes, sometimes hte occasional topic has to be locked. I'm fine with freedom of speech, as long as you are not talking so loud that the next guy cannot be heard.
There are committed people on here, Rael is the interlocutor, who can write massive posts and turn a discussion completely on its head. Similarly, cheater_1, I admire the audacity and how articulate you are, perhaps your methods are somewhat questionable, but you keep this site alive, you are the dark knight here, Rael the incorruptible police chief (Gordon was it?)(I'm not sure what this makes everyone else, this was a spur of the moment idea to continue the 'Dark Knight' theme). You two fight the crime that is forum spamming, you have your different methods, but you are looking for the same goal, an interesting forum for people to have lively and interesting discussions.
For those of you who read all that, thanks, it's my two cents on the matter and probably a bag of loose change extra. I shall leave you with something I posted on one of Rael's blogs:
'If people spent as much time thinking about their forum posts as they did about their chess moves, this would be a better place.'
...and the award for THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE POST for the month of AUGUST goes to.....KLUNK.
He "gets it". He comprehends "it". He can see "it". If anyone has to ask what "it" is, then I cannot be of any help to you.
I agree with Klunk, also. I've seen forums where there are a lot less meaningless nonsense, so improving the forums' quality is certainly possible.
But since there are pretty much no rules enforced so far, I'll continue to post unnecessary blahblahblah from time to time. It's fun. 
Ben_Palko wrote:
Klunk wrote:
...cheater_1, I admire the audacity and how articulate you are, perhaps your methods are somewhat questionable, but you keep this site alive, you are the dark knight here, Rael the incorruptible police chief (Gordon was it?)(I'm not sure what this makes everyone else, this was a spur of the moment idea to continue the 'Dark Knight' theme). You two fight the crime that is forum spamming, you have your different methods, but you are looking for the same goal, an interesting forum for people to have lively and interesting discussions... I wonder who's Joker? hehe maybe Erik?
Does this post make you the riddler?
*Man comes in* OK, you have taken this metafore to far "Taking-everything-to-far-man" it's back to the slammer with you *Dragged out*
BatGirl has been suspiciously quiet. She's probably waiting in the shadows until the right moment, then ...zzzzzwap! bam! zok! (See http://www.usfamily.net/web/wpattinson/otr/batman/batfight.htm for details)
Has anyone else noticed that the level of violence in the forum is going up?
Pegrin wrote:
How about that topic called Help Set a New Chess.com Record? Even in an Off Topic forum, a thread should be about something — your pet frog, Brittany's hoohah, World of Warcraft, whatever. The word association threads are fine. But a thread that aims at getting the highest post count, without any content? A waste of bandwidth that clogs up the Hot Topics list.
Clogs up your way of thinking,squire,lol!
It is simply just a riddle!
Ben_Palko wrote:
Does this post make you the riddler? *Man comes in* OK, you have taken this metafore to far "Taking-everything-to-far-man" it's back to the slammer with you *Dragged out* what's your point? I don't get it... English is not my native language - can you explain it to me with simple words (like 'shit' or the 'F' word for instance) as all normal ppl?
There wheren't any criticism of you anywhere in my post, just bad jokes...
Ben_Palko wrote:
There wheren't any criticism of you anywhere in my post, just bad jokes... oh, I see... Japanese sense of humor is unique that's alright - a really bad joke would be something about the name of your city (starts with F) or something like that... I like Japanese ppl (there are lots of tourists from Japan in Croatia)
So do I (I am born and raised in Denmark, but moved to Japan for work :-)
Leave -Help set a New Chess.com Record- alone,for is it not just innocent fun for some people,it causes no actuall harm to nobody if anything it brings a smile to one's sour face!