[Jack]

Well...

From the vB 3 threaded posts thing, it should help to sometimes kill the extra discuession... But... I normally don't like threaded forums because they get too hard to follow (as each branch breaks off to something else) Personally, I think that each extra thread in a threaded forum should just be a new topic and keep a linear style. Oh well...

The solution that i see is:

Mods will be using the "split" & "move" action a lot. In a large community, newer users just don't know how to really keep a topic on topic. (And even older users forget that sometimes) The "Lock", which might be the first idea, just makes the discuession go somewhere else. (At least that's what I've found). Move it / Split it...

(Sorry, know the mod thing is still a little while off.. but it's the best idea i have)