I could quote saravincent's entire post to agree, but for brevity I'll just say I agree.
I work, and work some nights at a local shop - I check in daily, but using the "Read New Messages Since My Last Visit" it is a bit daunting to find 7+ pages of posts, a large number of which are PDA's, jokes, cute stories - anything but quilting. That wouldn't be a problem if I were on a general subject board, but on a quilting board - things I might be able to help with or might be interested in are just getting lost in the sheer magnitude of 'other' stuff.
I could just click on 'Recent Topics' - but after a full day away at work, I'm going to miss posts beyond that one page, so that doesn't work.
I could try to skim by topic title - but as has been noted in this thread, that only works if the topic title actually reflects what the topic is, which isn't always the case.
I've read at least 3 instances throughout this thread where Admin has said, in one form or another, "It's not working." Guidelines aren't being followed no matter how many accommodations are being made. Opening up GCC , I fear, will result in the very same issues as before - unless the rule of 'behave yourself' is enforced. There are members here who have been on since the beginning in 2006, and have never had to be sent a PM to behave themselves - so I daresay it is possible to show some restraint, think about other members before posting and to be reasonable.