[evulish]

I think it most certainly is case-by-case. Maybe set a limit...then have the option of voting on whether to continue the thread...then have the decision go to you if the majority of posters in the thread say yes. (Another idea could be to get more Mods to take some of the load off you and make sure people are being nice...)

I certainly don't think 2-3 days is enough for a thread. From my forum experience, the threads start with broad and general statements then get more nit-picky then ends up 2 or 3 people just harassing each other... That process normally takes a week or two. I'd say end it in the middle of the nit-picky part.

Just warn people a day or two before the thread ends...so that people can basically summarize if needed. I guess it's hard to actually limit this kind of stuff... AFAIK, there aren't really any bad grudges because of things said over some of these debates. I know some other select forums (linuxnewbie.org), threads about religion, politics, and the like result in some people being kicked off their ISP. I have never seen anything close to that here on CD (and hope I never will).