Been playing for about 13-14 years seriously, can't remember the exact time I started. My main interest is in straight pool. I find it to be the purest game, the game with the least number of restriction and thus the game through which your ability and imagination can be expressed. I play rotation games only when I wan't to socialize with other players, and sometimes for practice purposes (to learn different routes around the table etc).
For the last couple of years I've been a very active poster here on Az on various matters, mostly about techniques and aiming systems etc which I have been very interested in. These topics have both been ran into the ground I find that the discussion is now dominated by people with sh.. to sell. Through silencing, scare tactics and pure carpet bombing many knowledgable posters have been squeezed out or just gave up on the whole discussion. There are now 5 or 6 advertising threads on the main forum...makes you think.
I think posters like me are dinosaurs that have outlived their purpose on the forum. Pool has few or no real secrets, yet I find it rewarding to discuss observations and theories with my fellow students of the game and compare notes so to speak..I don't think there are many like me left on the forum. It's just to big of a forum for that. There are now people with books, videos and stuff to sell, and the people who want to buy it, it kind of makes posting less rewarding to me.
I'm not trying to play the wise old man here (I'm strictly speaking neither), but as a long time poster, certain patterns become painfully obvious after a while. The threads I take an interest in all run the same course: one or two pages of replies from my fellow students of the game, then a salesman comes in and usually a final death blow from another salesman. The threads started by salesmen have a dynamic of their own, which should be obvious to even the most casual of observers. Some have taken it upon themselves to try to snipe at these obvious threads and salesmen with sarcasm etc. but I find this equally pointless as starting threads that will instantly die. I guess the next logical step is to go on facebook or youtube and make videos etc. Not that I'm some great player but people seem to respond more to videos anyway and the debates are more involved and interesting....
Best pool game in history! Still, I bet most rules of the game are different. Here in Croatia we have slop, no rail requirement, take what you break, very unique rules when it comes to racking, scratching, ball off the table, and a certain number of others you most likely won't be familiar with. I could be wrong though...