I'd like to politely request that all off-topic threads (including, BH, Zeta & Lounge) are left unlocked for the duration of BB.

I see no valid reason for them to be locked.

No other forum locks up off-topic threads during peak times.

We use our off-topic threads to retreat and chat to friends when we don't want to contribute to on-topic threads.

Would it not make sense to leave these THREE threads as they are? It has been claimed that they are clique-ish and off-putting to new members.

Think about it. If you lock/remove these threads, people will still want to have a chat and a laugh with each other, and they'll end up doing it within the on-topic threads, infiltrating them with off-topic banter.

Wouldn't that be more off-putting to a new member who wishes to discuss BB, and not discuss the personal lives of the people here who already know each other?

New members will do one of two things.. they'll either enter one of these THREE threads, and join in with the banter, or they'll ignore these THREE threads and post in the areas relevant to their interests.

You may note I've used capitalisation on the word 'three' rather often in this post. That was for the purpose of drawing attention to the fact that there are only THREE threads in a forum containing thousands. How can this possibly adversely affect anyone?

One of the ways in which new members start talking to older members is through threads like these. They'll either watch the banter for a while and and choose to join in later on, or they'll immediately find a common ground with the posters. It's even how some active members today made their mark on TiBB.

I fully agree with everything Linda wrote.

And I'd like to mention that I ended any 'war' The Zeta had with The Brotherhood last night. Our thread is no longer in competition with theirs (I'm not sure if it's the same with theirs) so as far as I'm concerned, it's just a friendly little place for a group of people to chat during Big Brother. New members will tend to stick to the BB10 section at first anyway.

I don't think there was ever any real 'war'. Most of the Zeta and BH posters were having fake wars. Some may have taken it more seriously, but most didn't.

Well they certainly acted very petty when their thread was locked lol

I couldn't agree more.
I don't know who got that idea first but this isn't right and really unfair. We know the forums are Big Brother focussed but in previous years, it didn't cause any harm to have members chatting about different things.

How contradictory that the mods want new members to be accepted and join the forums easily but yet they want to close the threads than can make that possible.
Closing these threads will make people creating new off-topic threads. Mods don't want to deal with a ton of threads which are basically the same, it's a waste of time.

The Brotherhood and the Zetas were basically a joke, just a place to chill out but some members took it a bit too seriously (not giving any names but take a look at the Brotherhood thread and you'll get them) by spoiling and insulting us for no appearant reason. And nothing is being done against that, that's the shame.

About the Lounge, I am still asking proofs for how it is a clique and members who post in there put off new members posting in.

I think Mark and James
have every right to Lock threads
during a Intense start of BB10.

Remy: I agree.

Mark: In fairness to them, if Zeta had been locked and BH left open, we'd have went a bit mental at that too lol

arista: You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. However, I disagree with a dictator-style admin.

To be fair, most of the people who use these threads are only having a laugh, and will gladly add support to this request. I fail to see what good can come of locking these up. They are very tongue-in-cheek, and quite a few members have jumped from one side to the other and even back again during the so-called thread-wars LoL

Care to elaborate ?

Mark/James have the right to close this entire site down if they want. It's their site, and their money keeping it running.

However, it doesn't make for good relations with forum users if you dictate rules with no solid reasoning behind them arista.

Of course they have the right to shut them down but at least they can give us the real reasons of such an action. So far, we didn't have any that proves us wrong.

That's what I'm saying. They reserve the right to do whatever the hell they want at the end of the day.. it's their site..

But, they've never been dictatorial in running TiBB, so why start now?

"You are entitled to your opinion and I respect that. However, I disagree with a dictator-style admin."


I prefer this Forum to not Crash
Mark and James
know from before how this site dealt with Intense postings.

A Locked thread for a short time
is Not a major problem.

This is a Great Site
Nothing like it at all
we need to Respect that.

And how these 3 threads are going to make TIBB crash when such threads (like the Lounge) never caused any harm in the previous years when BB was on ?
They knew how to deal with it, why not this year ? Because some members took it a bit too seriously by insulting people and this has annoyed the mods, that's why.

Lili has been fair in her discussion of the topic, so I think it'd pay admin to take note of her points.

She acknowledged a very important point - the "wars" were all jokey. If mods/admins are locking the cult threads cos of jokey insults, they're going to have a job on their hands to standardise that rule - cos everyone on this forum always "jokey insults" the other.

And to Mark: Lili is also right in that if Zeta had been locked but no BH, you'd react the same. Standardisation is important on the forum, either lock both threads or lock neither. I'd prefer the latter, of course.

And to arista: The admin have never stated the closure of these threads is due to bandwidth, that's not the issue.

That is your view
Seems you have Solved the reason behind this Capt. Remy.

Of course I did solve it and I know I'm right along with Lili, Mark and Lauren. The mods have no excuse for doing it, completely random decisions.

Locking a thread for a short time
is not a Major Problem.


Respect this Site.

We do respect the site.

Are they going to lock the entire off-topic area?

That would be more acceptable to be honest.

Locking THREE threads is basically singling out the people who use them.

Surely it is, if you use those threads?
It's like saying... Deleting TiBB, temporarily, is not a major problem.
No, it may not be a problem to someone who doesn't use the site, but it obviously is to us.

Of Course Lauren
but you will be OK.
Your Aura is Strong.

If the admins are not prepared to open all three threads, then they should compromise and at least open the Lounge so members can have a place to chat about off topic things?

The next things the admins will be complaining about will be off topic discussion spilling into the Big Brother sections. The Lounge hasn't been locked for any other series, so why now?

That's correct Matt. Off-topic discussion will happen, regardless. So why not leave it confined to these threads.

I agree fully with the OP.

When I joined TiBB, I was discussing BB and BB only. I didnt know there was other sections of TiBB like C&G etc. Until I found some threads and thought they were hilarious and joined in and look at me now, a member of TiBB who has enjoyed my time here.

New members might enjoy our playful banter in BH and Zeta and the Lounge.

Does this mean that you are going to close all the music threads? All the BGT threads? None of these are BB related - why not close them too then?

I didnt see any of this happening last year so why now?

also, it's hard to label either thread 'clique-y' considering the majority of the forum is in one of them.

I would also like it if a mod/admin could post their full reasons for doing this.