It seems to me that since posters of this board were required to register the activity on this board has decreased significantly. <BR><BR>Why would the people who run this board want that? Were they trying to reduce traffic so they didn't have to upgrade there systems or servers? Maybe they just wanted less people to see their adds because they were making too much money.<BR><BR> I remember last year at this time in the Brazil board since this is the height of the season, there were many many posts each day, now your lucky if you get one or two a week. <BR><BR>Even Frommers has more activity then this and they require registration too.<BR><BR>I don't know but whoever were the people who pressured for this registration I hope that they are satisfied.

Activity here seems about the same to me. Maybe down a little, but then international travel is generally down due to economic and political conditions.<BR><BR>If you have ever run a board or even been on a board where anonymous wackos have besieged it, disrupting it and causing all kinds of problems, you would better understand why registration is required.<BR><BR>--Lan Sluder

I think the activity is a fraction of what it was and registration has bascically killed the forum. Without the registration some people were being jerks but, in a way, that stimulated a lot of the discussion. Too bad Fodors decided to go this way.

I agree with Dondiega and Dude. <BR>The spontaneity and lively discourse are gone.<BR>It used to take hours to go through the different posts for the locations I was interested in. <BR>Now it takes minutes, and the provacative discussions that used to provide intellectual stimulation and vast amounts of information are missing.<BR>In Fodors defense, the need for editorial interference for the foul language was intense, and it looks like they have opted to put controls in place that will allow for there to be fewer staff in place due to the vastly reduced number of posts.

I'm going to have to agree with Dondiega, Dude and Diana. I've frequented this board almost daily for the 18 months. Activity is significantly low. As a matter of fact, there was more activity during the post 9/11 downtrend in travel, which leads me to believe that the current downturn in international travel has nothing to do with it. If you don't believe me, check out Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree. It's alive and well.

Lan, I don't know how you can say that activity is the same, I don't know what subject matter you are interested in but in the Brazil board it is now the most boring board I have ever seen.<BR><BR> Yes it is true that before registration in all the boards there may have been some bogus posters but not so much in Latin America and Brazil.<BR><BR> Now there is nothing going on which has led me to seek out other forums because I enjoy chatting about travel and there just doesn't seem to be anybody here to chat with anymore, too bad, I really liked this site and I find myself coming here less and less everyday.<BR><BR> I also see that some of the other regulars that I saw all the time don't post anymore at all.

My impression is that while quantity is down, quality has improved. In the past, some of the threads would take on a whole new life as people would just start talking to each other instead of helping out the questioner. Besides, how difficult is it to register? If there is interest in the success of the board, then the few minutes it takes are worthwhile.

Lonely Planet (Thorntree) does have a good board. It requires registration as well, and individual sections are moderated. <BR><BR>All of the best travel boards now require registration, because of the weirdos out there who inhabit the Internet.<BR><BR>I personally think boards like this one should require members to post their real names and cities of residence. That would make people a little more sensitive to their responsibilities as well as to their freedoms.<BR><BR>--Lan Sluder

I feel that registration is really a minor nuisance, and the pluses of registration outweigh the minuses. I tried to re-register to determine just how much of a bother it is to register but I was unable to do so. I really enjoy and value this site so the infinitesimal amount of effort it took to register was a no-brainer.<BR><BR>I have noticed a drop off in activity. I don't really know why. I have also noticed a drop-off of attacks and foolish commentary, which is a good thing in my book. I have been the target of inappropriate commentary in the past and that sort of thing certainly detracts from the value of the board.<BR><BR>I suppose to some registration means exposing themselves to spam and unwanted solicitation. To quell those fears Fodors should take pains to assure registrants that the information they share through the registration process is secure.<BR><BR>But maybe I'm being naive. Maybe one way for Fodors to recoup some of the costs of operating the message board is by selling personal information of registrants to commercial enterprises or consumer list brokers. My personal opinion is that its a small price to pay for a valuable service but others may not agree.<BR><BR>Perhaps certain persons who stand to gain as a result of the assistance they provide on the board are reluctant to reveal their identities for fear of being exposed. My answer to those individuals is they should give users of the board more credit. Most people on the board recognize that the advice given on the board, while genuine, honest, and helpful, may also be self-serving to some degree. I think most people are just greatful to be given free advice and information from people in the know and they can do their own due diligence to determine the accuracy of the information.<BR><BR>Just a few thoughts to add to the discussion.<BR><BR>Jay

... I will suggest that for the last 2 weeks I have had trouble getting on the Fodors talk site for what appears to be technical problems.<BR><BR>Jay

Well, it certainly is easy to register but it seems that not many are bothering to do so. <BR><BR>If you look at the Brazil board from last year and Brazil is not the busiest board but last year there were dozens of questions around this time about Carnival which is next week and hotels, night life and restaurents. <BR><BR>As of right now the last question asked about Brazil was on 2/19/03 almost a week ago. It was a good quality question and now we have high quality questions and low quantity. <BR><BR>Some may like this as I can see from a previous poster on this subject and some may not. Im just saying even with all the bogus posters in the past this board had some element of fun to it, I used to look forward to coming to it to see what was posted. Now there is maybe one high quality question a week and the fun is gone.

I've got to agree with Dondiega. I've been using and contributing to this community for almost 3 years now. <BR><BR>Although I do appreciate that some of the inappropriate postings are now gone, they weren't that hard for me to ignore in the first place. But the fun seems to have left as well. I think what made this a true community was the personal interactions between the posters about topics that may have been unrelated to travel - but they seemed to bring the community together in the spirit of lively discourse and good fun. <BR><BR>Now I find that the board is dry and quite dull. I still log on to see what's going on each day, but i'm pretty much on and off in about 3 minutes, and I don't bother to read past the first 50 messages. Before registration, I used to literally spendhours each day enjoying the posts and replying. Now, for some reason, I just can't get too excited about the forum, and don't feel motivated to respond, even if I have information to contribute. I'm not quite sure why, but I know that my own travel related postings have tapered off just due to the fact that i'm not reading many threads because none look very interesting. <BR><BR>I suppose that this site is still somewhat informative, but it has definitely lost its sparkle. Oh well. Hmm...I guess I can't even get too excited about its demise.

Registration always seems to quiet down a BB, at least initially. Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree was slower right after required registration. It is a GREAT site and has recovered somewhat, but it *too* is nowhere near as lively as it used to be. They explained registration as a necessary business decision to save money on monitoring the boards.

Last year I was planning a cruise and frequented Fodors Cruise board, it was a very busy board much busier than the Latin America board and especially Brazil. I just visited that board and guess what? They are saying the same thing only it has even more of an impact over there as they were quite busy before and the frequent posters there are saying it much more than here. <BR><BR>Yes I have looked at the Lonely Planet lately and it is nothing compared to what this board used to be, the same goes for Frommers.<BR><BR>I guess I didn't realize it at the time but this board was special now it is like all the rest, what a shame. <BR><BR>It is one of those things where you don't realize what you have until you loose it. It's really too bad because this board has lost it and has become so boring and bland as the other boards mentioned here. <BR><BR>If the people who run this boards reason was to slow things down then I guess they got what they want.