When I first came on to Mudcat I didn't know if it was moderated or not but there were always interesting discussions going on and I learned a lot. I have never been a prolific poster, being more the quiet type, but I did enjoy browsing the threads. However, things deteriorated to the point where I just didn't want to wade through all the nastiness and nonsense, much less post and get flamed, and I didn't visit Mudcat because I just didn't enjoy it much anymore. I couldn't believe the childishness and nonsense that cluttered the place. Yes, certainly I could ignore it but it just made me not want to bother with the site anymore. What changed things was when I went to the Getaway and met some Mudcatters and realized how nice some of them are in person, and that I really do have a lot in common with many of the folks who post here.

As for whether or not it should be moderated, the answer is YES and if it were up to me I would see to it that more posts were deleted, and I would ban a couple of people permanently. Personally I think the mods are overly generous! I visit a couple of other forums and all have membership requirements (in some cases it's a nominal fee and in others at least it is required to register). None of them would put up with half the crap that still goes on in Mudcat land,although it has gotten better in the last couple of months.