I don't understand why you are forced to quote the response before you whether or not you are replying to them directly. I mean if I am just adding my thoughts to the conversation in general it doesn't make sense to quote anyone.
Is there a reasoning behind this being a forced issue?
You are not just being asked to quote the response before you. In fact, that defeats the purpose if that is not the post you are answering. If you are just adding your thoughts to the subject you should just quote the first post, or the post at which the topic changed to become the one you are adding your thoughts to.
This is a host-and-staff assisting measure. When it becomes necessary to trace a part of a thread back to assess a complaint, using the linkbacks provided by the quote code makes that process quick and easy. (as opposed to reading through a whole multi-page thread to find the connections, both making response time quicker for the complainant and for not wasting staff time)
The software we started out on made this automatic and we like the utility of it. It also means that you do not have to read through an entire thread before responding to a specific point. The quote will show where you are coming in.
Plus - it's in the rules. You agreed to them. We like it this way.
Marilyn
Board Staff