Announcement regarding the upcoming season of The Bachelorette

Sleuthing started on this site as a way to win the rose ceremony game on the ABC site. They no longer run those contests, and sleuthing has morphed into something entirely different, something we don't wish to cover any longer.

• The season has turned into ups and downs with various dubious "insiders" telling everyone what happens.
• Moderation has become a nightmare as people get too attached to their favorites and cannot stand to hear a bad word about them - which is completely against our site philosophy.
• Posters who try to say something humorous are shouted down and told there is something wrong with them - which is against our rules AND our site philosophy.
• The abundance of spoilers has attracted low quality posters who demand information and don't contribute to discussions.
• There is a large quantity of people who can't separate the fact that the people on TV are fair game while posters around them are not - something that is not a problem in other show forums. It's a simple concept that should be easy to understand, yet time and time again people have complained to us that we are being too mean to their favorite contestant.
• There really isn't any reason, nor is it healthy, to need to know from week one who the winner is of a show like The Bachelor. No one has a big bet running in Las Vegas, do they? Of all shows, this one should just be watched and enjoyed as it unfolds. What is the point of gloating that you know the winner in a show about people getting to know each other? The journey itself should be the interesting part, not "he picks the blonde."

The behavior in this forum has made us a laughing stock at other sites. It's destroying the reputation of this site, and we don't feel like we can let that go on.

We had a problem like this in the past with the forum for America's Next Top Model, but in that case, the posters were mostly teenagers and unruly behavior wasn't so surprising. The constant squabbling in threads, paying no attention to the subject of the threads, refusing to follow rules that are no problem elsewhere on the site, moaning about any changes we might make in a desperate bid to accommodate everyone, resistance to anything that would help make moderation easier for our staff (who are not paid employees, they are volunteers with real lives and jobs and other concerns in their lives besides The Bachelor 24 hours a day) - it's too much. Add to that the embarrassment of a large portion of posters who have trouble distinguishing between real life and what they see on screen, and you'll have the Bachelor Spoiler/Sleuthing forum.

As such, we've decided that we need a break. We're not going to allow sleuthing or spoilers on the site for The Bachelorette season. We highly encourage anyone who wants to watch the show to rethink how they experience the show. Just relax and watch it on TV without worrying over the final pick. Dating shows can be a lot of fun, filled with unintentional comedy, and we will be talking about the show in the regular, non-spoiled Bachelorette forum. If you cannot unplug yourself from the mania of knowing every detail before it airs, find another site for the time being.

If you have ever responded snottily to an infraction, accused us of favoring one contestant over another, tried to sneak in jabs with the hopes that the forum moves too quickly that we wouldn't notice, or piled on a poster because everyone else was doing it, even when you knew it would get deleted, congratulations - YOU are the reason we are shutting down spoilers.

Hi all, that wraps up this forum for the time being.

Please do note that we still have a policy that you can't use FORT resources to start your own site, so please do not come here inviting everyone to a new space and expect us to let that pass. We also don't want drama from other boards or sites, as I'm sure you understand.

Please join us for the premiere to discuss the Bachelorette as it airs.

No spoilers or sleuthing talk allowed! We're going to take the season as it unfolds, looking for fun, unintentional comedy, and fluffy entertainment.

Hi everyone,

For the time being please do not embed videos in the threads as we are finding it slows us down considerably. Fan videos are still okay, but just use a link to wherever you are hosting it. Thanks!

As a reminder, this forum is a no-spoiler zone. This wasn't a decision we came to quickly or that we took lightly. It came after discussion over many seasons of moderating the forums. For now and for the foreseeable future, this will be a no-spoiler and no-sleuthing forum.

Also, if you think coming into this forum and spoiling the entire season of the show makes you cute or clever, think again. We acknowledge that this is a ridiculous reality show. It's also a ridiculous reality show that many people here enjoy, so spoiling it just makes you a jerk. "Accidentally" spoiling the show will earn you an automatic ban. Period. We've posted enough warnings about not posting spoilers that if you spoil F1, F4 or even the eliminations from the first episode, then we're going to assume it was intentional and ban you. Please be respectful of the many posters here who want to experience the show as it happens and don't want to know what happens ahead of time. There are plenty of sites with spoilers for the entire season, this just isn't one of them.

We'll be opening the forum up to posts before the season premiere on Monday. Enjoy the season!

The season ended a week ago and we're to the point where all of the posts are just rehashing the same issues and getting nowhere. We'll open the forum up when the next season of the franchise begins.