[JVN]

I think that a time limit should definitely be implemented on a case-by-case basis if at all. I think that some debates deserve to be "dragged on" a little bit longer than others.

I trust the moderators implicitly to decide when such debates have dragged on for too long. As someone once said in the forums, Brandon is God. To tell you the truth, I agree with this statement. I've been reading CD for a little over 2 years now and it seems like the need to close a thread is a new thing. Now whenever I'm reading and I feel like things have begun to drag out, I get a glimpse of that happy little orange dizzy face, a quick note from Brandon, and a locked thread.

I feel the moderators should just use their own discretion, not put any set time-limit on a thread. If the current moderators don't feel up to the task, perhaps more dedicated (level-headed) FIRSTers (like Dave and Ken) should become Mods.

I've only seen one, maybe two examples of someone truly disagreeing with a Moderator's decision. However I can see people getting truly angry and reposting a subject when a timer runs out and a post closes.

As for getting rid of the Chit-Chat forum...
For those people who think Chit-Chat is a bad thing: would abolishing the forum stop the chatter, or would it just bring it more heavily into the more serious, FIRST-related forums?
Personally I enjoy the chatter... we don't want to take ourselves too seriously do we?

I love this message board. My personal FIRST philosophy is "There is always something to teach, and always something to learn" and this message board provides a perfect place for both learning, and teaching to occur on an international level. Where else are you going to be able to ask engineers from Delphi, GM, NASA, UTC (and so many more) about... basically anything you want to know? The collective experience of this forum is amazing. I'd be surprised if there was something that not one of us knows about. I think people just need to keep this in mind, and remember how lucky we are to be where we are!

I apologize for ranting.

*Bows to Brandon*
Thank you for letting me play in YOUR domain!