Ray

Yes I agree with most of what you say.

Regarding AR I enjoy it as well. I belong to lots of forums and visit maybe six every week and four every couple of days. Sometimes just for a few minutes depending on what is posted.

The NE Team (ie members who have accepted to become forum leaders) have been having a discussion and we have been trying to put together a code of conduct for the forums. How we deal with 'trolls', off-topic discussions but mostly it is 'advice' on how members should behave in a civilised forum. Respect is a key word. AR used to impress me as almost everyone there was very civil and polite. That has disappeared in the last 18 months for some reason and is the sort of thing that is hard to recover.

One of the points raised is that we want to discourage members here from sniping or attacking other forums. Problems real or perceived at other forums should be handled at those forums or with their administrators. Eg problems at HA, handle them there. Problems at AR, handle them there. Same with NE.com. None of these forums have paid subscriptions, they are completely free other than a bit of advertising, and members can come and go as they wish.

Its best for topics to stay on topic and about hunting and shooting and related topics then everyone enjoys it more.

Trolls are a problem for every forum, sooner or later and in reality unless someone can invent a new "troll-bane" to get rid of them, action other than ignoring them or not reading their guff doesn't really have any effect.

NE.com has always aimed to be the members own forums. Within the code of conduct, which is mostly voluntary, and is aimed to make it more enjoyable for everyone, the members can enjoy their discussions and share their hunts and shoots at will. I hope we continue to have good discussions on double rifles, big bores, other shooting, hunting in Africa, Australia, North America or wherever.