I posted a contribution on the four-part "Campsite at Drumcree" megathread in which I offered a suggestion which was relevant to this issue, and would have liked to copy it in here as it was quite relevant to this discussion. In it I explained inter alia why I am still signing in as a guest

But now the search engine is no longer showing up any of those part-threads, even though it is still showing the original one which gave rise to it. So what's happening, has The Campsite at Drumcree been decommissioned?

It would be a pity if it was deleted, because not only was it deliriously funny, it also was arguably more on-topic than the original posting which spawned it. That original posting was by a member who obviously felt very strongly about Drumcree, but it was arguably off topic. Yet as the successor thread developed, a good dozen "Alternative words" (parodies) were generated in direct response to it, and there was quite a lot of other creative wit of interest to musicians. Also I think it is fair to say that the jokey tone in which the thread evolved allowed people who would probably have different perspectives on the politics of Northern Ireland to find some common ground in the humour.

So it is hard to draw the borderline between what's appropriate to the Mudcat forum and what isn't, and IMHO the status of the author as a member or not is not a sound criterion for deciding what is admissible.

My suggestion, in essence, was to create an area (which I christened the "sandpit") within the Mudcat site where people who just want to play could post what are clearly BS/OT messages. In that way, people who feel that they are part of a community could still exchange views on issues marginal to the main interests of the Mudcat café with other members of that community, without cluttering up the main thread listing.