+1

some of the other areas do have some value, and should be considered, but perhaps reduced.
T/R's only does likely make up 80% of the site over the last few years. Most info and inquiries do take place in this active section.

CT can function well, even without mods, its only partially active during shoulder times, such as now.
Perhaps we can clean it up a bit over winter time

KARVITK: I do enjoy seeing your TR postings on a very regular basis. It's always a good motivator.

What I don't understand is why people are so bothered by things they don't need to look at.

If you want CT to be just TRs, gear discussion, and maybe a couple other things, you can easily have CT be only that for you.
Visit the Trip Report forum, the gear discussion forum, and any other you like. Don't visit the Lodge, the Conservation Corner, or any other one you don't care for.
Why on earth do you need to care what stupid arguments people have in sections you don't want to see? Why is it necessary to delete it so that no-one else *can* see it, just because you don't like it?

There are a few sections that tend to hold discussions that don't interest me, so I don't read those sections. I don't get offended by what goes on in them without me.
If there is an individual whose language I find detrimental to my ClubTread experience, I can also block them so I never have to see them again.

ClubTread can easily be edited by each person to be just what they like, and skip the parts they don't. I don't understand why you are all so bothered by the very existence of forums you aren't forced to read.

Well said, and I totally agree!

Quote : Why on earth do you need to care what stupid arguments people have in sections you don't want to see? Why is it necessary to delete it so that no-one else *can* see it, just because you don't like it?


True, but some very important and interesting topics are hijacked by these individuals and in no time the whole conversation is headed to the outhouse.

So some moderation is needed.

YEAH! what she said! didn't they even install a block feature so if you know it's the same people that don't contribute and you never care for what they have to say then just block them if their ramblings in threads gets under your skin so easily.

Do they even still have that feature? I never used it but remembered reading about it.

^That.^

Also Regional Discussions are as useful as trip reports. A great many Regional Discussions topics end up with a TR posted that was a better trip due to the direct local knowledge provided.

Some level of moderation is needed, probably stricter in most forums, much lighter in the Lodge.
There are a lot of rude belligerently argumentative people out there who seem to delight in lighting fires then throwing gasoline at them so without some level of moderation online forums frequently deteriorate into toxic waste, hence driving out the people who are why I come by. Much the same as how just one drunken yahoo on a quad doing doughnuts around their bonfire can ruin it for a hundred quiet campers.

Rachelo: I agree with you and from a personal perspective, I don't actually care about the rantings of thin-skinned, easily-baited posters, irrespective of how inflamed they may be. Anyone can ignore them.

However, what's more troubling is the trend for solid, contributing posters to quietly slip away from CT having seen the board hijacked and pulled down rabbit holes of flame throwing invective. Admittedly, the evidence for these departures is anecdotal at best but it seems to be a common theme and I'm guessing there's something to it.

CT provides a hugely valuable resource for up-to-date trail info, insights to destinations I hope to visit and quite often, beautiful photography. None of us, except maybe SimonC can get to all the locations we wish to. CT provides a means of visiting these places vicariously and experiencing the adventure through another person's eyes. IMHO, that's CT's real value. If safeguarding and developing that function means ditching the wild-west forums, then so be it. That is a small price to pay, IMO.

Yes, the Lodge is really the place for the trolls and drunken rants. I'm okay with a pretty permissive environment, but some minimal moderation should be reinstated.

Definitely. I don't mean to say nothing is needed. It can be a problem when productive threads are hijacked. I just hear several people complain about entire forums they don't need to read, and I find that silly. I do think some moderation is usually needed in the usual threads.

Yep, it's still available. You click on it from the person's profile.
If you don't like the words someone uses, you can block them, and you don't ever need to read that person's comments again.

Censoring from your view is very easy, so it seems to me much more drama-creating to make a big fuss about it existing when it's so easy to ignore.

I find great use in Regional Discussion as well, but I was commenting with respect to the suggestions posed here. If a user likes *solely* Trip Reports, they are totally welcome to only read that. They just shouldn't concern themselves with the existence of forums they don't want to read.
I definitely think we need some level of moderation, and that has definitely been lacking completely since this happened, but there's no need to go overboard.

I'm pretty sure that any level of moderation will make some people angry that it's too strong, and others angry that it's too light.
I think it is unfortunate when people leave over silly things, but I just can't feel all that much concern for people who make a fuss about something they could easily ignore.

"Suck it up, you big babies" probably isn't that right strategy for retaining good posters.