Posted By:
Brian McQueen
The BST page is something I check 2-3 times a day on average. I consider it an important part of the site and one of the most important resources for "networking" amongst your peers in the hobby, acquiring tough cards, etc....that we host here on the forum.
I've spoken with quite a few of you about this in the past and based one what I've heard, everyone seems to be split right down the middle on whether to have a single thread which restarted the first of every month or a more structured format the way it is now. Personally, I am fine with either. I think having the single thread may be more convenient for some because you can scroll directly to the bottom to see all the new postings. However if you don't check it as often as I do, the catagorized version may be more to your liking as it saves you from having to scan through a bunch of posts that wouldn't interest you anyway.
I believe that the BST page still gets heavy use in its current format. I recently added the "most recent post" column so that people can easily tell if any new posts have been added to the individual BST pages without having to click. However I'm open to whatever the community would like to do. In response to something Jay said earlier, I sort of like the idea of using a single thread with a little "flame" or something next to it that makes it really stand out amongst all the other threads on the main post. I think this would be possible but at the same time, the BST section stands out quite a bit the way it is now.
Another nice thing about the current setup is that people can reply to individual posts without cluttering up the actual forums. Being able to reply to each post also enables you to "bump" your thread every few weeks so that your posts don't get buried too far. One of the big concerns about the current setup is that no one checks Page 2 and beyond, but if someone replies to your post, including yourself, it bumps it all the way back up to the top again.
I think there are positive aspects to both so let's keep discussing it and maybe come to a consensus over the weekend. If enough people are unhappy with the format, it may be time for a re-evaluation.
-Brian