What I think has happened in the past on occasion is people have used their spinoff for a conversation thread on a particular topic, whereas here the main topic disappears after awhile. In that way, this could be a good thing, as more controversial topics may get pushed to a spin-off thread, and off the main thread where it’s aggravating everybody except the 3 or 4 or 5 people involved.
Perhaps, but I think the occasional flamewar is actually a guilty entertainment for many here.