your taking the assumption that the topic can be salvaged all the time.

If I close a thread permanently it's because a thread asking something dumb like 'What is your favourite colour Pringles tube' has gone massively off topic.

Ordinarily I would close a thread like that after the first post for being so idiotic but then I get called things like trigger happy, so I decide to leave it open. Because it's a dumb thread it soon gets filled up with crap and off topic arguments.
So I close it, because a topic so dumb really doesn't need salvaging and then I get called trigger happy again.

So in short, start proper threads and don't instigate topics a 4 year old would find stupid and this won't happen.

^I mentioned that in my OP as well that there are exceptions, based on whether the thread is a duplicate or just down right stupid. I do agree though, as i've stated before, it should be the thread starters responsibility to start the thread strong, otherwise the content within it won't be strong.

I couldn't resist. :laughing:

I should have just changed the question in my post, then you would have just been left with a really dumb thread that people would think you really want to know the answer to.

:p: Don't be a poopy head just cause you were defeated by my comic genius.

I haven't read all of the replies, but I would say that there are two main reasons a thread gets closed on short notice:

1) It's a newbie's misplaced/spam/duplicate thread.
2) Users within the thread are having some kind of pointless circular argument.

In the case of the second point, nothing will stop two stubborn members from continuing to derail the conversation, regardless of how many times they are warned, or how many other people attempt to return the topic to its original state.

In my experience, the only thing that will keep these people out of a scrap is to remove their platform for fighting on, even just until they cool off. I wish we could ban specific users from specific threads instead, because it's a shame that all other members should be denied an adult discussion when they're capable of having it.

If we can find a way to address this specific problem, we may be on to something.

I know it's always a long shot to request something to happen to the forum, but there's is a plug-in/hack for vBulletin that can allow thread bans for specific users:

Ban Users From a Thread - vBulletin.org Forum

The owner set it up at my other forum, and it works wonders. You can set how long you want them to be banned from the thread, or just keep the banned permanently. It works the same way as regular banning does.

Well, let me just put it out there that while that looks like a jolly solution...

We're only asked by the admins if we need any updates once every couple of years, and I would say 97% of our requests go either ignored, or refused. The updates we do receive are minor, such as having words added to or removed from the swear filter, and I believe Yak does that.

We can try and remember it if they ask us again, but I would bank on the answer being a no.

Yeah, I know about the low success rate with the admins, but I wanted to bring up the hack anyway for conversation sake. This site would be perfect if the success rate was higher than what you said, because that's the only thing that's lacking at this point.

I honestly dont see anything wrong with this site myself. I think the mods act accordingly when the situation calls for it most the time. Some mods are more strict than others but it all evens out in the long run. Thats just my take on it though