As I said above, the community is also the "production tool" of ET. Thus maintaining and developing it is essential. The Open threads and European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch are the place where the community create bonds that are a prerequisite for the quality of debates.

That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to separate the informal/humorous exchanges and digressions from the more "on the point" comments, but the spontaneity should be preserved.
 

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet