I think that's mostly just your perception, but I do know where you're coming from. I think that perception largely stems from the banter amongst the mods and some of the 'Scottish mafia'!
And yes, there are a reasonable number of 'mods' here, but that's only because we like to reward those who contribute greatly to the success of the forum and selflessly offer their help and advice, so they become a 'Moderator', but not because there's much moderating to be done.
It's more about them being part of a 'team' who shape the development of the forum and help run it. Unfortunately, the software doesn't allow for 'promoting' members any other way, so in order to be given any authority (ability to move or delete posts/threads, etc), members of the team have to become 'Moderators'.
There are also rather more than a small number of regular posters (several hundred in that category in fact), although like most forums the 'active membership' is a small percentage of the total members registered. The key stat for any successful forum is the number of different members, outside of that category, who pop in for a look or to post something, so the names in the 'Users Online' list are constantly changing on a daily basis.
Like I said, the perception of the "small number of regular posters"/'clique' thing comes largely from the input of the mods (team leaders), and the most prolific regular posters, and the fact that in most cases we all know each other (have a similar sense of humour) and are good friends. However, as I'm party to the stats, I can assure you that there's a lot more going on than that, often in areas of the forum and in discussions that may not be of any interest to you personally
Marco.
Originally Posted by Marco
I think that's mostly just your perception, but I do know where you're coming from. I think that perception largely stems from the banter amongst the mods and some of the 'Scottish mafia'!