most 'vip' discussions belong in the front room. I don't get it on some of these

Say who?

I actually liked the way the site was set up a few months ago. VIP and Front Room topics were visible on the same page. Non-Vip members just couldn't' see the VIP topics. Like MisterWonderful, I sometimes forget to look in the VIP room so I miss certain topics that I might be interested in.

I like the current set up of front vs VIP.

There was a fair amount of back and forth on this topic a few months ago and my recollection was that founder tried to create a new format that would appease the majority of people.

Really quite simple! Don't like it, don't use it.