Before another announcement is made... I wanted to take the time out to address some things regarding the speculation thread. I'm not posting this because of any particular incident, but more because of a systemic issue within the thread that has caused this year's Speculation to sour with many of our readers. It seems in the past few years, specifically this year, there has been more clamoring for announcements, more random guesses, more anger, more frustration; where every sentence by anyone with knowledge is torn apart and triple analyzed. There's also a good portion where it feels like people are competing to be right in random speculation for whatever reason it may be. This is an unusual situation for us mods, as we have to address the issue, but there is no clear "right answer". What we do know is that this thread is, #1 with a bullet, the most reported/complaint thread on the boards.
It's tough because how do you moderate "speculation"? The mods and I discussed several of the major issues we've received regarding the thread and figured out what we feel needs to be addressed.
The biggest beef from other users seems to be the 24/7/365 speculation being so tiring, where it's not so much speculation but throwing stuff at a wall and hoping it sticks. As been posted by myself and others several times - the rumor has become more important than the actual event. Some posters seem to have become addicted to this and substitute the actual event for the speculation and rumor mill. So how do we break out of this loop, as it seems to create a negative atmosphere and doesn’t seem to add anything about the event itself?
As far as this year goes, we're too far in - but expect some changes as 29 ends and we start the march into 30. We're not looking to get into a discussion or a debate about this. The reason we're posting this is to be transparent, and hopefully, make you aware of the situation.