Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Vil...ikipedia_forums Interesting that no one has pointed out WR, despite a few allusions to it. Are people really still that scared to link here, even in response to a direct question?

It's because Village pump is a favorite haunt for David Gerard and he'll block on sight for any mention of WR.

I was going to mention it, but I got the idea that the OP was looking for a place where very off-topic general chit-chat can occur. I think that is somewhat frowned upon here, or at least restricted to the lounge or whatever.

Someone has mentioned it now. I think the original question was referring more to the kind of forum like Wikback. Wikipedia Review is a criticism site, not really for general discussion about anything.

You haven't met Moulton yet, have you?

Wikback was actually pretty site-oriented--more like AN or wikien-l. If they want a general discussion forum, they'd probably do well with IRC.

IRC is more of a general idiocy forum. It's only "discussion" if you count watching Pellegrini make an ass of himself "discussion".

{{fact}}? Actually, as I recall from the era of the BADSITES Wars, Gerard was one of those who actually seemed to mostly take my side on it, feeling that link censorship was silly.

Indeed. Dave has, along with several of the other old-school cabal types, finally figured out that the way to keep newer WP recruits from finding out about us is to simply shut the hell up about it.

Of course, once they've been around a while and they do find out, the crisis of conscience that sometimes results may do far more damage to the recruit's psyche than would have occurred if the recruit had known about the less-positive aspects of WP at the time of recruitment. Obviously they're operating under the assumption that if they haven't managed to sufficiently indoctrinate the recruits (past the point at which rehabilitation might still be possible) by the time they learn of WR's existence, then it must be the recruit's fault, so "hey, good riddance."

It's one of the most chucklesome things on the webz.

Would it be too much to ask that WP attaches itself to its own forum where policy does not apply? I would think that in a professional setting, an 'intranet' type forum could only help. The problem with the arbitrary schemata at this point is that when one decides to assert an opinion, a redirect to another foray is the autonomic response. I hate that shit. Passing the buck is the motif and I do think it healthy to have a forum, hosted by WP, where users can do their laundry, dirty or otherwise.

It could serve to alert the 'foundation' (I hate saying that creepy euphamism) to such concerns, and keep other vocal editors out of hot water, as they would be able to be candid, and well, tell people what they really think.

Yeah, reading back, that's too much to ask. The only saving grace is that this site is so heavily trolled by everyone at WP that concerns are made public. However, the converse problem is that it is heavily trolled by those who talk out of both sides. Admins bitch about 'anons' (in my fraternity days we called them GDI's or God Damn Independents) and yet here the anons are those that are most decorated or feared. Log in, suck it up, and contribute here. It takes an act of God to lose the tools and an act of Divinity to lose respect on WP, so until WP has such an unlikely tangent, this place is as good as any. What's great about this place is that although it may seem like current editors and admins are a target for fodder, they are actually better embraced than the IP who fucked up because he or she added original research, gets templated, and quits WP.

Contrary to popular misconception, one can shit here, and still be embraced for sacking up and toiling through the perils of a simple fucking registration.

I'm glad someone gets giggles out of his bullshit. He merely pisses me, and a number of other people, off.
40 years from now, when someone writes an honest history of WP, Raul will be a minor--if odious--footnote.

Seriously, I doubt that will ever happen. WP's ambient culture has based itself around IRC bullshit sessions since the early days, and most WP honchos seem to dislike fora. Possibly because of this one. They operate just like a hacker gang, clever but incredibly stuck in their ways. Good example is the phone-phreak scene with their chat lines. (Leading to the creation of freaks like Matthew Weigman, by the by.)

To make real change possible, so an open and honest forum could thrive, I think that would require a total purging of the admin ranks, plus Jimbo and Gerard. They'd rather go to jail, than stop pissing around on IRC.