If I may respond to piperdbh and add to mookien's comment.

It would be only common courtesy, that if a thread is about one topic, others would respect the original intent and refrain from taking the thread off onto another topic.

It would also be courteous that if someone wishes to discuss a second topic that they start their own new thread.



Now a little insight. In the world of forum administers and moderators there are some common topics of discussion. One of these is the subject of trolls.
A forum troll is defined as:
"Someone who posts inflammatory or controversial posts with the intent of provoking others into an emotional response."
Trolls love to push people's buttons and sit back and watch the fur fly.

It is common when a troll is confronted to respond with "Ah, jee, we're just having a bit of fun" or "The juicy threads are the most fun." Trolls love the juicy threads because they are always emotionally heated. Trolls love to sit back and watch the havoc they have started or encouraged.

There is another strategy of trolls. If a thread gets a warning shot across the bow by a moderator the troll will change the topic of the thread so it is not shut down for violating the rules. The idea behind this strategy is that as long as the thread is still open and active all the 'juicy' posts are still there. It is sort of like repeating yourself without actually having to post again.

Please understand that I am not accusing anyone of anything. I am not saying anyone who participated in this thread is a troll. I'm only explaining why I asked my question.

In the end X Marks has always been about respect.
There is the respect we show for our fellow members. Even though we come from different parts of the world have different political or religious beliefs we continue to respect others beliefs. This respect of our fellow members is why we do not bring our personal religious or political beliefs here to X Marks.
We also respect the kilt. The kilt is the chosen topic of this forum. It is what brought us all here and what we come here to discuss. Our respect for the kilt is why we do not post up-kilt photos or post in a way that shows the kilt as the subject of ridicule.
We also respect our forum itself. We try to keep this forum focused on our subject and not allow it to become a free-for-all. We understand that the kilt is not all there is to life but we also realize and respect the others who want to talk about the kilt by not taking the forum off topic.

So back to my question in post 91 of this thread. How far off-topic do you feel the Moderators should allow a thread to go before they are forced to step in?

Do you want X Marks to become a totally open, free to post whatever you want, type of forum?
Do you want X Marks to be run like some other forums out there where yelling and screaming are the norm? Where people feel that the internet is free and so they can say and do anything they like?

Where should the limits be? Where should we set some boundaries?