Absolutely!
The only solution I think which would be handy would be a technical one:
If people would have the possibility to mark there post with off topic, there could be a filter view for threads. So if you just want to chat with some people you could see the full thread. If you are looking for some information you could reduce the thread to the essentials.

But I don't think the forum platform is capable to do that and even if, there would be a lot of work for the guys who are are making a great job by keeping that platform stable and running.

So I think we should live with that off topic stuff.