I think Ron should institute a probabtionary period for new accounts so that all the trolling and gimick accounts might fade away.
If i had it my way, i would:
* Limit the daily posts of new members until they have proven themselves to be real people.
* Have certain discussion(s) off limits to new members
* Hazing, Hazing, Hazing!
* start up a premium membership account for 5 or ten dollars a year for those of us who wish to do away with the crap. Then we could have a "premium" member only board and actually debate things of a bodybuilding nature.
* Have a written test for new members to see if they are worthy.
I know all this would be a lot of work for the mods, but cmon... there are enough people here who actually care about this place and would like to see it back to the old days.
Things we've had to endure lately:
Klaus
TA / DA fiasco
The Mr. Get Big fallout
Mowernation
Goodrum
And the bad part is that some of it is directly related to bodybuilding. I think some people bring things upon themselves... but for the most part, much of it can be attributed to trolling and gimmick accounts.
I for one would be willing to take on a workload of grading and scoring new members tests (i think a commitee of moderators and established members could be established to do approve or disapprove members) to ensure that a higher level of discussion ensues. I am all down for ownings and wild debates and groups of friends as long as it doesn't interfere with the main idea behind the board. I also think that people definetely have the ability to redeem themselves as well. there was a time when a lot of people did not like 240 and the fiasco surrounding him, but in my opinion he is one of our most valuable members. These are all just ideas, but maybe some of them should be implemented?
That being said, i still think that Ron & co do a great job with this forum and it has stuck around for quite sometime now so they are obviously doing something right.