I think you have a lot of good points, Delia, and at the time when I was on staff I actually did broach some of these issues openly myself, on an internal staff forum. That could appear ironic because I was recruited to take charge of the Hall of Fame, which is connected to the numbers count, but I made it quite open that to me numbers don't imply that much in themselves, beyond the fun factor, and I absolutely don't consider myself a "VIP member" because of so and so many posts. That's just numbers, dammit, and in any case 95% of the posts here are more or less buried just weeks after they were written. So if I feel I'm contributing it's because of the personal qualities of a good deal of what is posted: openness, sensuality, friendship, sexiness, a sense of community. How would I say I'm a "better member" than Tessa, ladygstar, Oz or Alex? Still, a lot of my own posting here has been intertwined with making friendships, connecting to people and often new people here.

I can see there is an irritation factor if you have on the one hand a band of people who appear to be doing nothing but playing games in very short posts, and on the other hand serious (older?) people who are discussing bdsm and dungeon equipment in a factual and experienced way and who feel they don't get their share of recognition. Tensions of that kind is something we have to live with here, because this place spans at least three generations and people who have very different expectations.

I would love to see a stronger emphasis on the writing activity, on imagination, and I think Nikita and Alex are up to just that. As long as people will see a place like this can't be measured just by a few "top members" - it is too rich for that.