Are there any good moderated forums for bitcoin that people can recommend? I don't really like the thought of someone having that kind of control over forum postings, but this forum has degenerated to the point where I think such a forum is an unfortunate necessity. And, btw, this kind of thing is not unique to bitcoin. Almost every community that achieves some degree of popularity has to take such steps at some point. I would also recommend shutting this forum down (an action that I think, while unfortunate, is probably in the best interest of bitcoin).
Have you thought of just using the ignore function. Not sure how it works, but whether you can ignore a whole thread or a particular user, that would work nicely. It would be sad to see you guys leave, you're among those doing really good work for Bitcoin.
I don't need tools to ignore certain people or threads, I just do. I just want a place where I can engage in serious discussion about bitcoin without having to wade through pages and pages of people's personal quarrels and other nonsense. I also want a forum where people new to bitcoin can land and not be completely turned off by such nonsense. I suggested shutting down this forum not because I'm against having unmoderated forums, but because this is the oldest and hence most popular bitcoin forum. And in my opinion this forum is no longer deserving of being the place where people are first introduced to bitcoin discussion topics. I'm sure another unmoderated forum will be started in short order and it can stand on its own merits.