Originally Posted by Synnen
The reason there ISN'T such a rule is that those of us who moderate have to read all of that stuff, and keep it from getting nasty, and if it gets too far off topic, then it's a different thread entirely anyway.
Keeping a thread on track is important, especially for anyone coming to read the thread long after people have stopped posting, or if the original poster has to keep reading through EVERYTHING to get to an answer posted after the off-topic stuff.
I understand where you're coming from, but think about it from the OP's point of view, or from the moderators' :)