Sorry I took longer than usual to deal with this. I suspect the days where anybody can post under any username are over. I think I'll set up the board here to tie in with RinkChat's account database, so that if you're registered for one, you're registered for the other. Then the /ban and IP controls of one will apply to the other as well. It would mean that in my absence, those of you who are RinkChat ops would be able to do an IP ban that would take effect in the forum. I'll have to think about how to manage the moderation of posts that have already been made. There are plenty of ways to handle that, and it's just a matter of deciding on the best one.

Those of you who are familiar with RinkChat know that there is no shortage of tools available for dealing with trolls; to move some of those controls here to the forum would solve the problem easily enough. It only comes down to when I'll have the time to implement these things.

But it is regrettable to me that the step has to be taken. This board has been up nearly ten years now -- since summer of 1998 -- and it has never had or required a registration system. In 1998, this was not especially remarkable, but what other significant registrationless forum do you know of that remains in operation today? I'm sure there are more, but they are few and hard to come by.

Howard, I concur with Grishny's sentiments in this thread. You deserve defending, but I don't think you need it. You've got a thick skin, and you know you're beloved by all here who matter. You're one of RinkWorks' great treasures. Frankly, it would change this forum less if *I* left it, than if you did.