Gamey, old friend, I have been to other forums that also have a shout box (they were all Millsville related) and trust me "It's just as much of a headache for them as it is for us."

The biggest difference I see between this site, and the Millsville site that our friend Houjun moderates, is that there is nearly always a moderator or admin online in there.

Of course they have like 6 admins and idk how many mods, but issues do get handled more rapidly that way. There's also the fact that trouble makers are simply not tolerated. You get warned (suspended) once, then your gone for good.

Having said that, let me point out a few things you already know, but most members don't:

In that site the SB is the primary means members communicate. The forums are used for more lengthy things, most of which are not time sensitive.

In this site, the SB is an addendum. It was never intended to be a primary means of communication. It is NOT an IM replacement.

That site is hosted on an ad based server. They aren't concerned with things like "bandwidth overages" because the more people who view the ads, the better. You can pay an annual fee to make it ad free, or deal with the popups. Your choice.

Thank goodness, LDW chose not to go that route. Here, LDW bears the full cost of running the site. They pay the annual fee for us. If the SB get's particularly active and they go over the bandwidth, they get hit with a "penalty." They pay this and go on, never "reprimanding" us for being enthusiastic members.

Also, keep this in mind. When You and I joined, there were way less than a hundred thousand members. Now, there are over ONE HUNDRED SIXTY THOUSAND, and the numbers grow daily! Please forgive my mistake...When Gamey and I joined there were around TEN thousand members. THAT number has grown to over TWENTY FIVE thousand.

When you and I joined, the membership base was primarily young to middle aged adults (I suspect many of which are parents).

Since the release of Virtual Families (or maybe it was VV3) that has changed to mostly what I call "tweenagers." The majority of members now are between 8 and 20 years old.
Sorry kids, but facts is facts, and the fact is "It's a lot easier to ride herd on a crowd of adults, than a crowd of young people."

Finally, I'm going to tell you that, despite the perception, "we" do not intentionally pick on any member in or out of the SB. IF a member breaks the rules, we try to gently remind them.

If misconduct continues an admin will contact that user via PM and give them a warning. If the message still doesn't get through, other actions up to and including permanent bans are imposed. Again "We" don't like having to make people behave, but somebody has to, or there would be chaos in here.

Finally, to answer your question "Why have a Shout Box?"
The SB is (and always was) intended to be a "Meet & Greet" place.

It [b]is a place where members can exchange niceties and chat (briefly please) about their games, and every day life.

The SB is NOT a place to carry on lengthy conversations, if at all avoidable. Please use PM's for communicating with particular members, or the Forums to communicate with the entire membership. If the subject is not LDW related, we have an Off Topics forum you can use.

Whether in the SB or the Forums, we do require our members to be courteous, stay "on subject" (yes even in the OT), and follow our general rules.

The SB can and should be a fun place to say "hello" and get updates from each other. The {"overzealous?") enforcement that started this whole conversation was created because members couldn't/wouldn't follow the rules!

The "Inconsistent Enforcement" is because: 1) WE ARE HUMAN, and 2) WE ARE NOT ALWAYS ONLINE!

Believe me! It is as frustrating to us as it is to YOU the members! The Forum rules are written in very simple terms.

The Shout Box rules (you know that square just above the SB?) is even more simple! If people would just follow them, EVERYONE (including the mods & admins) would be MUCH happier.

As it says in the Shout Box Rules: "Pull up a chair and your favorite beverage and talk about life and LDW games. It should be a place where newbies are welcomed into the family and everyone feels comfortable joining in the conversation."