i joined here and finally did more than lurk because most everyone seemed nice and accessible. if i had a problem with something, or had questions, i figured someone on here would be willing to help. I'm generally fairly random, and felt like i could contribute with personality, but i brought an air of newbishness and general lack of know-how, and saw more and more of it follow me. I'm sure that contributed to what has turned off several of the more senior members who used to be much more active (where the hell's liquid? i wish he would stop by even rarely <shrug> ).

that being said, i know that i have learned here, on EP, more in a shorter amount of time, than i have most other spots i frequently lurk. i think the abundance of mods is a detriment. senior member status is a good reward for consistency, ie visiting and contributing frequently, but mod-dom should be reserved for the more knowledgeable among us. i wouldn't mind offering up my mod status to see EP move in that direction, in the hopes that some of the more senior dudes who are shying away come back and speak up more. give them their due i suppose.

also, and i understand the word random is part-in-parcel to the site, but how the hell can some people claim the site's decline is due to less and less random stuff being posted? if you put too much emphasis on simply keeping the amount of random content up, every bit of that random content is going to get crappier and less thought out. i imagine it would be noticeably cyclical if wee just let people do what they want, and not pressure randomness.

my 2 cents.