Whoa... this bad boy's taken on a life of its own!
Frank, I TOTALLY understand where you're comin' from. I started my online nerd life (as opposed to my real nerd life
) at tfw2005, and now post very rarely on hisstank. Those sites are fantastic for news, customs, sightings, etc. But I got sick of everyone's "opinion sharing"... as in: Oh noes, teh end of teh lyn is heuh; oh yeah, you suck! No, your mom suxxorz; You made a sweeping generalization; I am mighty, so I will now talk down to you! A lot of the time, those forums become less about the topic at hand, and more about who wants their intrawebz egos stroked. I honestly don't think that would happen here.
At the risk of making a sweeping generalization, I think people are here to share their vision of the Joe-verse through pictures. On other sites, having a love for G.I. Joe is simply too broad of a group; you're GOING to have fights. Here, it's only people who love to share their photos, dio-stories, How-tos... it's much more of a niche site, bringing mostly like-minded individuals to one place.
As far as people who sign on to cause trouble: all we have to do, and have done, is ignore them.
Of course, all this is just a theory so far.
For people who have fragile egos: well, this really isn't a tough crowd. If they can't handle people who critique instead of criticize, let 'em get mad, then eventually they'll leave.
It's great to see not only all the responses to this thread, but the people who have replied to it. You're all staples of the site, and while we have differing opinions, we're all stating them respectfully. I believe leadership like that from the veterans will keep the trolls away.
Now all we've gotta' do, is keep makin' pretty pictures
Have fun!!!