What if… project threads didn’t get derailed by scam accusations?
I propose that Projects should grow a subforum, called Project Funding Discussion, that is for all comment and feedback about project’s presence on funding platforms like Patreon, SubscribeStar, Itch, etc. There people can discuss which projects are worth funding and why, which might be scams, etc etc. Of course, discussing these topics outside the subforum should be redirected as offtopic.
This should be done so that Project discussions don’t get derailed by debates about funding that take oxygen away from discussion of the project itself. Some people chip in to crowdfunding campaigns, but most don’t, and no matter how the discussion goes, we cannot possibly be convinced to fund any less. But also, crowdfunding campaigns need somewhere to discuss them not controlled by the campaign itself, so a straight-up topic ban would be wrong. Therefore, subforum.
I honestly don’t know how this would impact moderators’ workload. I assume it would be a slight increase; redirecting some discussions to the subforum would be new work, but moderating it once it’s there should be about the same amount of work as before. It does seem to me that a lot of what needs moderation in a Projects thread would have been redirected under this proposal, so Project Funding Discussion would function nicely as a containment board.