My longer response was going to be (and so now is) as follows. I’ve not done the maths but I’d imagine there are 30-40 very active posters on here. Prob 100 who do actually post. If a good percentage of those had agreed with you then it’s certainly a point for the site staff to consider. It’s like restaurant reviews, people only really tend to leave one when something bad happens. The fact that this thread isn’t full of people agreeing with you speaks volumes.
We had a load of stick from a certain mod (who I believe is currently revelling in being home) for puns. Threatened with damnation if they continued. So we had a pun thread. Died quicker than a strawberry in a supernova.
I came here originally for authentic and genuine rumours. Discussion of COVID and the political situation in Saudi would have annoyed me too. But over the years we all realise that Liverpool news tends to break a few days before and nobody on here is ITK. It’s just discussion otherwise and that could be about the transfer or the politics of the country the player’s heading to.
The key word there is discussion otherwise the forum dies.
We’ve lost a lot of good posters over the years. The key is for the forum to run in a way that encourages healthy debate by the maximum number of people. I think the current balance is very good. I’ve been a mod on a draconian forum, was almost a full time job. Like imposing photocopier restrictions in a school. Just don’t do it, causes problems you just don’t need.
I accept my opinion appears to be in the minority, based on the responses in this thread, but the only way to find out if I was in the minority, or the majority, was to pose the question.
It seems some people may have viewed my suggestion a little too black and white, all or nothing, 1 or 10. This was never my intention. My view was to consider moving the moderation dial from 3 up to 4 or 5. A gentle tweak rather than a massive overhaul.
I can take some solace in the fact that there are others who share my views… and even yourself, who seems content with the status quo, gets peeved with some of the derailments.
The water has been tested, while there is appetite for minor change among some, the majority seem content with keeping things as they are. We move on.
I get why you were asking mate , and I am sympathetic to your position. Personally , if I do get snared up in a load of off-topic stuff that’s either superfluous or uninteresting then I just scroll through it until something grabs my attention again.
Apologies as I was one of those engaged in that side issue.
The issue surrounded Kimmich, and his refusal to have the vaccine. @LuisSuarez described it as an “experimental” vaccination and that triggered my response.
To which he noted that big pharma would love me…
It is a relevant issue surrounding a linked player, but it was threatening to stray into deeper waters
There are a handful of posters who have fallen into a sort of parody of themselves, and more often than not add little to a conversation other than turning up to add their “hilarious” two cents or a “controversial” hot-take and it’s these which more often than not result in the derailment.
Rather than blanket rules which stifle conversation, would it perhaps be better if mods sent some gentle requests to the usual suspects asking them to perhaps tone it down?
