What distinguishes FlyerTalk from the other web forums is not only the depth of information available here, but the sense of community that permeates all the forums. I believe OMNI is a significant contributor to that community. OMNI is aptly named -- it is the one forum that can involve all FlyerTalkers, regardless of the specific interest that brought them to FlyerTalk and the individual forums that serve their traveling needs.
I oppose the recent split between OMNI Politics & Religion and OMNI Everything Else. That the former has the theoretical potential of being contentious is not just meaningless in the context of community -- it is simply wrong. As an example, in this, what has been a contentious, perhaps the most contentious, election year, the political discussion on OMNI has been overwhelmingly substantive and respectful. There is high-quality discussion in OMNI because most people who are interested in FlyerTalk's substantive topics are high-quality people. In other words, it's not the subject matter that is a concern, but maintaining the quality of the FlyerTalk membership.
I am also opposed to eliminating OMNI from post counts. OMNI posts may be off-topic for flying and travel, but they're not off-topic for maintaining the health of the FlyerTalk community. I sincerely doubt that there would be as much interest in, and attendance at, DOs, club room meets, informal dinners, etc., were it not for the fact that most of us regard FlyerTalk as far more than a mere source of information about flying and travel. I'd like to see post counts restored -- a contribution to the community is as important as a substantive contribution to a travel forum.
I would, however, eliminate those threads that are solely post-count builders, the counting threads being the prime example. True game threads are fine -- even silly ones like the THANK, GOD, IT'S, FRIDAY thread. Fun is fine. Gaming the system is not.
I would also recommend closer moderation so that those very, very few posters, whose only contribution to FlyerTalk is outrageous, insulting, deliberately-provocative threads -- in other words, the trolls -- are "discouraged." This is no more than a handful of posters, but their goal is clearly to disrupt the community, not contribute to it.
Finally, I am not at all comfortable with OMNI being open (a) to everyone, with no minimum post requirement for access, and (b) to the internet so that OMNI posts now show up in Google archives and other search engines. The premise of OMNI is that FlyerTalkers can get together and discuss whatever strikes them -- on other websites, the equivalent of OMNI is often called, "The Lounge," or the "The Pub." The point, though, is that it should be reserved for FlyerTalkers, i.e. members of the FlyerTalk community. The one uniting thread of FT community membership is an interest in and passion for flying and travel. We want new FT members to share that passion. We don't want them coming here solely because they Googled an OMNI thread and have strong opinions about whatever that thread was about (or they have a passion for counting up to 100,000).
FlyerTalk: Come for the information. Stay for the community.