Moving this thread to the Suggestions forum.

100% Agree.

There are many BETTER places on the web to play/talk about games.

Following on the last point of esoteric17's post, why not allow people to configure their own "recent threads" - users select their own grouping of forums to be included.

I don't know what threads prompted the action taken over the weekend (wouldn't mind if someone could post that information), but if it was serious enough to close down the most active forums, I hope that will serve to increase the priority given to upgrading the forum software.

People looking for a flame war will always find one, but giving users the ability to select which forums show up in a search (such as the predefined "recent threads" search) and even which users' posts they wish (or don't wish) to see, may help to reduce the severity of the problem.

If for example I know User xyz often posts things that are offensive or inflammatory, I should be able to click on that user name and add it to a filter list. Then, in the future, I'll see that xyz made a post but it won't be in my face. People will respond by saying that they should be ignored without resorting to kill filters, but let's be honest, flamebait is like driving past a car wreck - you don't really want to look, but you do anyway.

You should also have the ability to click on a blocked post and read it if you decide not to ignore the user for some limited purpose.

This kind of filtering has been available on usenet newsreaders almost from day one, so I'm sure there is forum software available that can do this and a lot more.

Filtering threads or entire forums is also useful for those people who have no interest in any aspect of WCG except the science and user support. They could go into their profile and just tick off those forums they wanted to see. Then, when they log in a go to recent threads, they won't have to be bothered with any extraneous material. It will also reduce the number people who would get a wiff of any flamebait.

Of course this will only work if sysadmins are able to easily add and delete (i.e., move to archive forum when forum no longer relevant or useful) forums as users may request them. Adding a forum shouldn't be a major undertaking. I understand why that is the case with the current software. New forum software wouldn't be subject to those limitations.

There should also be a mechanism for tagging threads for review by support personnel. They can't be expected to read the volume of material that is posted here. An icon like the one for offensive language would probably be enough. You might even be able to add logic that would automatically lock and/or hide a thread if it were tagged by a specified number of users.

Finally, I think that users who repeatedly engage in flame wars - either as an instigator or participant - should first get a warning and then be suspended for some appropriate period of time. If the practice works in elementary schools, maybe it will work here too - although you never can tell.