I thought you were here to discuss games? Because if you think this is a step in the right direction, I'm afraid you will be proven wrong. Both those places and GD are containment zones. They are needed to provide a space to vent and post OT. You remove a functional part of the forum and all the white noise is going to flood the other, legit gaming discussion boards.
If you think this will somehow reduce drama or cause the discussion to improve, I'm afraid you're incredibly naive for a 2007 account my friend. And if your solution is simply to strong hand moderation as to ban everyone engaging in out of topic, I'm afraid it will excise a good portion of the forums, myself included.
Could be wrong. I sincerely hope this place can be preserved as much as possible but times are changing.
edit: Case in point, as you can see from DU's post just below mine, this move was made to maximize drama, not to help resolving any issue. As far as I'm concerned, I see no reason to argue with the owner of this place.
Joggerino, edit is for you too since you disagree.