Is off-topic okay if its interesting enough?

[Thanatos]

How rigid is the off-topic rule? If a thread has mutated into a discussion of something very different yet still retains merit is it acceptable? I find that unplanned drifts in threads are often the most interesting. Consider this thread. Its been off-topic since halfway down page one yet not in a bad way.

http://www.volconvo.com/forums/break...lds-sex-4.html

I usually try to relate what I post to the OP in some tangential way even if I'm really talking about something completely different. Should I change my ways?

[ThoughtCriminal]

If the off-topic discussion is distracting from the topical one, we have a problem. But if the main topic has played out and the new topic is the next logical step, I don't see any harm in it, even though it might make more sense to break it out into its own thread.

TC

[Jason]

Good reply, TC.

In a nutshell, if you're causing a disruption by not letting members discuss what they came to the thread to discuss, that's not okay. So if in doubt, start a new thread.

[Jack]

Here's where I see a problem with a thread changing direction in the middle.

Say you're posting to a thread named Bob. People looking for a debate about Bob will see that in the index and go there for a good Bob debate.

Now let's say the Bob debate morphs into a Stan debate. No one wants to debate Bob anymore, but Stan is introduced and that becomes the focus of the thread. People looking to debate Bob will be disappointed that the Bob thread isn't a Bob thread anymore. And more importantly, people looking for a good Stan debate will miss the one in the Bob thread. Maybe they'll start a Stan thread not realizing there is one already. Maybe they'll just miss out on the Stan debate.

Either way I think it's a matter of fairness to other members and a matter of organization in the forum to start a new thread with an appropriate (to the topic) title. If an off-topic subject is becoming the new focus of the thread, I think a new thread ought to be started and the old one left on-topic.

My 2¢.