BasicWiz, I think you've struck a pretty good balance. There are a few times I wish something would be locked sooner. There are also a few I wish had been left to percolate a bit longer, so, you're doing good as far as I'm concerned.

People come and go. My personal less than favorite list has always remained at about 2-3 names. The cast changes but the number stays about the same. As Sam said, even those sometimes say something I can agree with or even applaud. I always try to acknowledge those.

Most folks here are really pretty nice, better than many forums I've seen. I get Vilters comment about passion - on an intellectual level. Not being an artist though I find it hard to understand sometimes, especially with regard to technology etc. Passion about art, that makes sense. Blood feuds over software or corporations, not so much. OTOH, if it were politics or religion, I might be equally passionate.

I once said that we really don't need to read some of these threads. If you've been here long enough, you can read the names and predict what the person is going to say about a particular topic. You also know when two opponents have entered the ring and people start to pull out the virtual popcorn. Sometimes, it ends quickly, after a couple of 'I know you are, but what am I(s).' Somtimes it settles down when one gladiator leaves the arena. I prefer leaning toward blocking later. IMO, If you think a thread should be locked, notify a moderator and leave if you don't want to read anymore. If it does get locked, you haven't missed anything right? Frankly, I can read around the idiocy if there's anything left. The danger of not locking soon enough is that the fighting leaves a bad impression for newcomers (but so do locked threads), and the longer it goes, the more likely that even people with somewhat better self-control or sense may eventually get drawn in as well. There's no magic formula. I'd love the ability to filter posters on a per-thread basis. That way, when I saw that X was starting something with Y, I could simply filter them both out, and not even have to skip past them. I'd want to do it per-thread because X and Y may be perfectly pleasant on another topic or one without the other. Not gonna happen, I know.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken