In general I think Ian has taken the high road (for the most part) here.
It's easy to bash the XOC. They don't discriminate. Anyone can join, and at the same time, anyone can be picked on, slammed, provide hours of useless drivel, etc etc etc. I somehow doubt that Ian started the place as a community where people would post photos of supermodels (although, I find that thread to be interesting...) but that is what it has become. It also has places where useful information exists. If you pretty much skip from the general forums (general, i.e. about anyfugginthing) and go to the parts and accessories and Care and maintenance, and Driven sections, you WILL find good information. I may be a moderator of the ALR, but I honestly barely go there to post, usually only to patrol.
But I have gone offtrack already...
Ian has taken the high road because he allowed his board to turn into what it has become. It has turned into a community, not a club, but a community. 95% of Xterra owners DO NOT take their X offroad. That's OK. Does that mean they can't hang with the other folks? He provides a place for all Xterra owners to learn, chat, bullshit, and even make some stupid mistakes.
BUT, he also posts here. He adds content to YOUR community, even though he has his own community, which is often forgotten by the people who he probably started it for, the gearheads. There are many good threads over here. I see a lot of interesting stuff. But at the same time, it is pretty much a clique. Sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, pinheads, dweebies, wonkers, richies. Cliques. People from here who post lots of useful info will only go there to flame or to post when they are mentioned. Those people almost never post info on XOC. I see that as sad. Maybe the XOC has become the AOL of the Xterra world, maybe not. But Ian as a person has posted information on ALL messageboards, when he thinks he knows what he is talking about. He spreads the info wherever he can, even when it may cause his site to suffer. What happens when the 13 yr olds who run this site get bored? All this great info is lost.
Sniff.