How about letting the forum MODERATOR decide these things for himself? Or start your own forum, and police it as tight as you want

What is fairly obvious is that SZ has always been, as it's name suggests, a 'general' forum, where discussion is about arrangers in GENERAL... So, rather than hijacking a thread, cross-pollination is actually the whole point of this place!

What IS curious though, is the apparent indignation of those that want a 'tight' policy on a 'general' forum, but let's face it, if the subject is of such narrow interest, there ARE already the very fora where you might expect a nice 'tight' membership and lack of hijacking, yet of course, for the same egotism that prompts we 'forumistas' to post our general speculation and comments, prompts these same wounded souls to post here in the first place!

Seems like PLENTY of ego to go around!

It's simple, boys and girls... If you shudder at the possibility that sadly, your cherished topic might get OT, or heaven forbid! actually hijacked (and consider that beam in your own eye before you start bitching about others' motes!), there ARE fora here at SZ, and even more focused and better populated fora for each specific manufacturer where you have a MUCH better chance of staying On Topic (although it happens even on the manufacturer specific fora)...

Ahhh, but of course, where's the fun in airing YOUR opinions (that you want On Topic, at all cost) where only those that feel like you can hear it? MUCH more fun to rag on the OTHER egotists, isn't it?

When I need something specifically Roland related, rather than a general discussion, I go to Roland-Arranger.com. I don't come here, and EXPECT it to be like Roland-Arranger, and bitch when it isn't! A forum's tone reflects the majority of it's members. Obviously, most of us here feel free to discuss things in a free-wheeling fashion, and to be honest, although many threads end up somewhere other than where they started, usually there's a reason they devolve that has SOMETHING to do with the original post. This has, as long as I've been coming here, SZ's tone.

But hey! Feel free to call everybody else's posts 'pontificating', because, heaven forbid! You wouldn't DREAM of considering your OWN posts that way, now would you? Hijacking a thread is a bad thing? How about hijacking a whole forum? If the moderator is happy with the way things are, who are you to police it?