Suggestion for Baron: How about a 15 or 30-day waiting period from the time a newly-registered user signs up until s/he can post? They can read anything they want in the meantime of course. This would cut down on a lot of the multiple personalities that have pervaded many of the decent discussions here lately. They post a nasty/vulgar remark, then sign in again and either support or debate themselves at the expense of serious discussion. It's one thing in chit chat but the regular forums should be kept sane. Hopefully after the waiting period the infants will have lost interest and the honest ones will stick around. Take this thread as an example: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=9696
Having a link that will show IP address of poster also helps to reduce multiple personalities. Obviously a determined poster will get around it, but generally other message board have had success limiting multiple personalities with this technique.
I fail to see how a waiting period will do anything other than delay the inevitable for 15 days. Regarding IPs, we already log them but we do not make them publicly viewable in order to protect the privacy and security of our normal decent-acting members, which is still the overwhelming majority.
The posts may be inevitable, but why allow spoilers to go on day after day after day? "Randynutts" is an excellent example. "Ignore" is not enough, since so many people quote what one wants to ignore in their replies to these posts. Yes, the problem would largely be solved if everyone ignored the way they're "supposed to". But they don't. So it's up to the administrators to maintain a minimum level of decorum. If they choose not to, then the board is in danger of going the way of so many others before it. --Db
At a minimum the moderator should review the initial posts of the new posters to see what their real intent is. Or at least allow senior members to forward names of people they suspect are only posting to discredit or ruin a forum.