dtgreene: Then there's the fact that, on game specific forums, technical questions seem to be a lot more common than game related topics. I would like to see more discussion on the sub-forums about the actual games! (The Elder Scrolls series sub-forum could you some love, for example; we need more discussion about the early games in that series!)
lanipcga: I agree - even though I don't recall seeing anyone discourage casual discussions in most of my preferred subforums. My ability to help with technical problems is very limited, so I derive much enjoyment from simply talking about the games in question. The
QFG section has some nice threads covering trivia and lore, while the
Lords of the Realm and
Constructor sections have helpful threads dedicated to strategy. I don't frequent the
Baldur's Gate or
Icewind Dale sections, but I'm surprised to hear about those comments. Passionate, on-topic discussions should be viewed as integral to this community.
Different game specific forums are different; the QFG section is one of the better ones. I would also consider the Might and Magic subforum to also be good.
The BG and IWD subforums (and those of most other semi-modern AD&D-based games) are not so great in my experience. The Elder Scrolls subforum doesn't get enough traffic, and the Ultima one is almost as lacking in terms of traffic (particularly if you exclude topics about technical issues), though at least I haven't seen garbage posts in those subforums.
So, to summarize:
M&M, QFG: Good
BG, IWD: Toxic
TES, Ultima: Empty
As another note, I have posted, to the Dust: An Elysian Tail subforum, a rather advanced gameplay question that has received no replies at all.
LootHunter: After some consideration, I think that this piece of news is not as bad as it sounds. After all there IS already
eating disoder (several kinds in fact) and yet no one prohibits food or forbids eating.
One particularly well-known eating disorder involves the person not eating at all, and therefore would not be prevented if one were to prohibit eating; in fact, such a law would make it worse (though such a constant, unconditional ban never seriously become law in the first place, and no sane court would allow it to stand).