Nesting allows a one on one intimacy between individual posts and within subthreads that many (almost certainly most) wotmaniacs/RAFOlk have come to know and love. Ultimately, I don't think it really is easier to avoid tangents with paging (not that it's HARD, just relatively harder compared to nesting), actually, because with nesting you only see the title rather than having to scan over the whole post. It probably encourages things like threadjacks because people don't have to worry about diverting the main thread. And the fact is Ben went to a lot of time and trouble to create a RAFO interface as much like the one some members have enjoyed and felt at home with since 1999. It would be wrong to take that away from them just because a (VERY) small minority prefers another format (and I promise you it will never happen). People prefer nesting for valid reasons. That you and I don't value those reasons much doesn't diminish their value to those who do, any more than the things we value highly in paged threads is diminished by others disinterest.

I think I understand the animosity to change a little too well. I notice you referred to nesting as "the only thing that differentiates this site from other WoT sites". Drop the "other"; when RAFO was only a suggestion on the wotmania CMB the group decided it would NOT be a WoT site, and it isn't. I (accurately or not) perceive the same sentiment in the widespread distaste for WoT as in that for paging. This is how a lot of people want it, they fought hard to get it and they won't give it up any easier. Put yourself in their shoes though: Why should they give up a unique part of a site they've enjoyed for a decade, in many cases the reason they CHOSE that site and made it their own, just so people with plenty of other sites whose formats suit them MIGHT join? A fair number of people argued for and against a gradual move away from WoT (though a clear majority argued for it); the debate over nesting was literally me and one or two others overrun by the rest of the site, which is why I didn't debate it long: I knew how it would go so I was merely stating my position for the record. I wasn't exaggerating before: Those of us who argued for paged threads were literally 2% of those responding. Why on Earth would Ben or anyone in their right mind make a change 98% of the site vehemently opposes just to please the other 2%? Why would anyone want to join a site where that can happen? No, they're not going to agree with our arguments pages are better than trees because, for them, they manifestly aren't.

A compromise allowing both is not just the only fair solution, it's the only POSSIBLE solution for you and I. I want paged threads and would never use nesting again given the option, but I'd resist any attempt to deny the majority nesting ardently desired for very valid reasons as strongly as they would. As I said earlier, the only thing less fair than the majority imposing a format you and I detest on us would be us imposing one they equally detest on them. If the goal is truly making RAFO better and more inviting rather than suiting it to one groups preference, the ideal solution is one with as many preferences as possible, so no one is forced to use a format they dislike. We needn't choose between nesting and paging, and would be wrong to do so, whichever came out on top; more practically, nesting would always win, so if you don't want it to continue being forced on us, seek a compromise.