I dont know what anything has to do with anything, but i just saw two words that should never be in the same sentence... 'private' and 'forum' . Its an oxymoron. I have always laughed at such things.
Exactly. It's not the blatant elitism at these sites. Or the fact that they seem to constantly berate FST at every turn. Or any other matter of faults that others seem to point out.
The primary beef I have with "private" forums, whether invite oriented or not, is simply that singular word. Private.
Forums were made for
open discussion. Look it up in a dictionary, and other than the public marketplace of a Roman city, the two other primary definitions you'll find are "A
public meeting place for open discussion", and "A medium for
open discussion or
voicing of ideas, such as a newspaper, a radio or television program, or a website". The foundation upon which forums were built was the fact that users of any age, any size could collaborate together to provide discussion, opinions, insight, or support in any manner of topics to which the forum pertains. Shove this type of setting into a forced environment of a few hundred members and all you're left with the rehashed opinions of a few individuals. No forum can achieve its real purpose by simply limiting themselves from growth. This growth from the attaining of new members is what keeps ideas fresh, brings in new opinions, and creates new discussion.
Unfortunately, when shoved into the elitist world of private bittorrent, where smaller is better, all perspective is lost. Warped into their own little world with an inflated sense of self, they pretty much lose all sight of what a forum really should be, reflecting possibly the most ugly truth of BT.