Please forgive me if I have butted in on a thread going in a differnt direction as I have only skimmed through the posts.

I would just like to offer a view on the final part of Brians initial post:
"So which side do you lean toward? Do you feel a forum is more valuable to a community when it clamps down on insulting and off topic comments or when it loosens the rules on how people express themselves?"

I feel that compared to some forums the moderation on AX leads the way.
The term "Freedom of Speech" is never more abused and mis-represented than on forums.
So as not to drag on too much, I always felt that the fundemental benefit of Ax was that we could bring good people together to do good things for the sport. It was perhaps a little green of me.
In the old world, good people got together in a room (or similar) and thrashed things out to conclusion - each with a common goal.
Unfortunatley the forum offers this to each and every person no matter what their stance.
I say unfortunatley because often important points and discussions are destroyed by comments from those who have no intention of actually contributing, or have a personal gripe with the poster in question.

We have all been guilty of getting involved and defending ourselves when attacked - and ultimately achieving nothing apart from looking back and wondering why we returned comment or even bothered posting in the first place.
Certainly, those of us who hold a "position" are up for grabs all the time and this has resulted in most not posting anymore, thus reducing communication.

Certainly we should all have an opinion but almost nobody thinks before offering it on a forum.
Worse still I have seen incidents portrayed very differently from the actual truth by people who almost seem to believe their own inacuracies.

These types of things belong out of the public eye until it has been established that there is no way of resolving them. Instead they become public from the off, forcing people to retaliate and often take a totally different line to the one they may have taken (which may have resolved the issue).

If Forums are for people to get verbally brave just because they can or to sound off without really thinking (or worse still, caring)- in the name of Freedom of Speech, then they have no real value.

Ax moderates well and would moderate even better if more of us used the "report post" button when things get silly. No one should have to be abused in public just because it's some one else's opinion who always "says what they think".

Quick view on religion & politics. Most people commenting on such issues already have their stance and no one else's cyber view will do anything other than antagonise. Nothing positive can come of it so who needs it? If you really want to express a view like that - call, meet or email directly. We already wade through enough mess.

Best to all :)