I've kept out of this thread so far, as it's ultimately down to the website's owner(s) to determine what goes on. I cast a vote in favour of 'no restrictions' as I think self-policing is the best solution, given the following:
1. there are laws in existence about incitement to commit terrorism, racial hatred and all manner of other crimes. I think we all know, or at least sense, where the limits are
2. we are all grown-ups and am assuming most are male and well into middle age and beyond, so we're generally going to have a more measured attitude to things than a bunch of younger hotheads
3. I don't believe any of us here to convert others to a particular viewpoint, but that's not the point of it. Sometimes, we just want an outlet
4. we are living in a very censorious world, and this place has been somewhere we can all come to anonymously and share commonly held thoughts on various issues without fear of retribution
5. alongside the argy-bargy, there's a lot of common ground and humour about everything from cars to women we fancy, and from having affairs to farting
6. the news these days is dominated by issues arising from and promoted by things like Brexit, BLM, and historical revisionism, so it's only natural that conversations are going to cover these subjects
7. we were all brought here by a common interest
It used to be a board with no restrictions other than those indicated by laws (KN's 1st point]. Occasionally someone would get kicked a bit for other reasons like being an exceedingly persistent cunt (by common punters' standards) or flouting the official rules. With the changeover, 'hidden' rules were introduced -- which most people just accepted but it pissed some people off. There were also reports of unsavoury practices like the exchange of IP addresses outside of the forum, which no mods or owners would confirm or deny. The demise of off-topic was one of the reasons for many old and seasoned punters leaving -- since, even though they had punted and contributed to a very great degree, it left them feeling irrelevant. Another reason for people leaving or not posting was the vast quantity of utter wankers who feel they have to contribute some piece of utter shite, however irrelevant, to anything posted. There's a place for shite, but also a place for intelligent or well-thought-out threads such as those often started by KN or Nik or many others (fill such threads with shite and such posts become irrelevant).
If there’s “no restrictions” what is there to moderate?
Actually any time I post I heavily 'self-moderate'. The old owner, and Nik before him, was like a friend, reliably always on the side of the punter. The new owners are still an unknown quantity as far as I can see, for better or worse, but it's their forum. The mods and their powers, people who were just contributors before, are also now a fairly unknown quantity. Any member is still a guest, as before, just less sure of the playing field.
The most obvious reason that Off topic was reintroduced is that without it either the punting sections would have fell into nothing but chitchat over past experiences until lockdown disappeared, or else the site could have just stopped altogether.
There is another good reason for Off topic in my opinion -- although I know from experience (as an ex-Mod in the older days) that moderating off-topic is a fucking pain. The benefit, and downside, is I think that members let off steam, fall out, get back together, and basically bond. It gives the forum coherence. Members care about each other, even if they are just cyber entities.
When members care about each other, they also care about the forum, possibly in a deeper way than simply the exchange of P4P information. It may even affect the
quality of information since it means we care about how useful fellow members will find it to a greater degree, and maybe write accordingly.
ISG has had similar problems in a way. When punting died in the country he had made his home -- it had been among the best in the world -- he seemed to lose interest. The biggest downside though is that one may have to scroll through dozens of long pages of chat to dig down to essential information.
A clear border between punting info and off-topic, irrespective of the level of sense and degree of (or lack of) censorship, is the most important thing when it comes to such a forum fulfilling its primary reason for existence.
I've voted for no restriction -- which would mean more work for moderation -- though don't think it's that important whatever decision is made. Especially given the infrequency of my posts now.
Good luck!
