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: : In all honesty, I have no idea how big of a problem/trend/fad these virtual vacations have become--as I said, I hardly ever look at the state rankings any more. (I've never been bumped down the Ohio rankings by an interloper when I've checked them, but that's not saying much.) Where I disagree with you and Beaker is, if there's enough moving of profiles that people are complaining, then I think it's a problem. What's wrong with Hank moving to eliminate a problem based on complaints? How *else* is he supposed to find out about problems? He's gone to the trouble of making a profile directory; he can reasonably expect us to keep it accurate. I don't mind if he lets people have a little fun with it; but if they go too far, then they may ruin the fun for everyone else. Nobody's gone far enough to annoy *me* yet, but then in this instance that would be difficult indeed. Some folks clearly feel that the virtual vacations were being overdone; others clearly don't. I don't have sufficient knowledge to form an opinion, but if Hank saw reason to post about it, then there must've been more than just a few complaints, and in that case I'm inclined to believe that it was a real problem. : : (Also, SDV mentioned in a post below that at one point he remained in a certain state for a while just to annoy someone who complained directly to *him*. I think that pretty well destroys the argument that the "virtual vacations" were entirely intended as innocent fun anyway. Deliberate provocations shouldn't be tolerated in any case....) : : To address a couple of your other points: : : : I suspect there's a wide disparity among Georgers as to what other aspects of WG (besides the basic purpose of bill-tracking) keeps them around. Of course, we need to try to encourage Hank to keep as many of these "other aspects" in operation as possible, for the continued good health of this website. People stay around because the website has other features that they like. : : This is certainly true. That's why I don't much buy the argument that, well, the virtual vacationers weren't hurting anything. Of *course* they weren't hurting their *own* enjoyment of the site, but they may well have been interfering with other people's. The fact that you and I weren't bothered doesn't mean that the folks who *were* bothered are oversensitive or whiners (which several posters in this thread seem to be implying). So far I've had absolutely no use for the Favorite Bills feature; that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing, just that I use WG differently from some other people. I certainly don't go around questioning the motives of people who *do* use it. : : : : And as an entirely separate issue (which I'm surprised no one's mentioned yet): Even if you feel strongly that the profile directory is *only* for directory purposes and should not be used for competition, don't the "virtual vacations" defeat that purpose too? It's difficult to look up someone's profile in the directory if it's under a different state every day.... : : : Well, um, yes, I *did* mention that. But I mentioned it in the Northeast Forum, where very few people saw it. I'll put in a link at the end of this post. : : Okay, good, at least I'm not the only one. :) Still, it does appear that not too many people must use the directory that way. (Which may not be too surprising, given that profiles are automatically linked to forum posts and bill reports; they're readily available from several sources, in other words.) Incidentally, no, I don't read the NE forum. I'm down to three now: this, the Q&A, and the Collectors'. The posts keep coming faster, and my free time remains bounded.... : : (Oh, and, for the benefit of those who *do* use the profile directory for directory purposes: After reading Hank's post "Use this test" further down this thread, I'm moving my profile to Wisconsin after all. My apologies for any confusion....)

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