I think you raise a good point, Questions. Some boards are a lot more picky about staying on topic than others. I never thought of this board as being all that particular about it, provided the original question gets addressed. I know that if a thread goes astray without addressing the original question, most of here try to steer it back to the point. People here are extremely considerate, in my experience.
As a thread winds down to its natural conclusion, I think it often happens that things go a bit more off-topic. Hot threads that are active at a time when lots of people happen to be online also tend to go off-topic faster.
Those digressions can be interesting and fun, though! As long as the original poster gets a well-considered answer from the group, I personally enjoy our digressions.
It does mean that we probably need a chat-space, but I suspect that even if we get one, some things will pop in people's heads in response to a topic. I have gotten a lot out of those ostensibly off-topic but interesting and thoughtful comments, so I hope those don't stop! The side conversation about college in the skipping K thread was a really interesting discussion, I thought. I would never want to lose that sort of serendipity!
