Yay, we've been saved from ourselves again!

[Batfish]

Originally Posted by Miller

...it wasn't Pit material. ...

At the risk of repeating myself, it was precisely Pit material. It was a weak OP being ridiculed for being weak.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Batfish

At the risk of repeating myself, it was precisely Pit material. It was a weak OP being ridiculed for being weak.

Speaking as one of the few people who actually read the original OP, yes, it was weak. Hence my response to it. But the OP obviously changed his mind and retracted it, leaving not a weak OP, but a non-existent one. His only mistake was not alerting a mod to close the thread.

It's obvious that a lot of people here just don't like moderated message boards. If there was a dearth of such message boards on the internet, that might be a point of view that would garner some sympathy. (This last part not directed at you, Batfish.)

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by Zeldar

As much as I enjoyed the frivolity in the Pit thread, I can find no fault with this logic. How would it be in future analogous situations (if there should ever be such) just to change the title to something even sillier than the Walmarticus one to something maybe like "Here's some nonsense for you to riff on"?

Why should Miller assume that jali would have wanted to start a frivolous nonsense thread? Because that what it would go down in the archives as. Not a big deal, but at that point it's only a matter of degrees.

[Zeldar]

Originally Posted by Bosstone

Why should Miller assume that jali would have wanted to start a frivolous nonsense thread? Because that what it would go down in the archives as. Not a big deal, but at that point it's only a matter of degrees.

The objective would be to move an active thread out of The Pit to MPSIMS. The OP as such was devoid of any point. The title could be changed to anything and the notion that Walmarticus had ever been mentioned (beyond the Spartacus and Walmart references) would have to be deduced.

All for the point of leaving a fun-and-games nonsense session open and moved to another forum -- if that were ever considered as worthy.

As for jali's involvement and culpability, I would propose that that was abandoned with the "nm" as an OP.

I suspect this tempest in a teacup may have spilled over into the uselessness saucer.

[samclem]

So, miller gets the props and votes in the mod contest, right? I hate that guy. No one ever says he's an asshole.

Ed, I want my vote back. ............

[Darth Panda]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

I have noticed that the person who started the thread in question and then changed her mind and decided to end the effort hasn't(as far as I know) registered any complaints about the way it was handled by the mods. Does this fact have any weight at all?

No.

[Red Barchetta]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

I happen to think that getting a sense of what a thread is about by looking at the title is pretty damn handy...

I see that you need to be reminded of this thread of yours, once again.

But I agree: I too think it'd be nice if you followed your own advice.

[Darth Panda]

If the thread title was really the problem, they could have just changed it.

[The Great Sun Jester]

Originally Posted by PlainJain

"What do threads like this hurt by being allowed to remain open?"

Because pointless, frivilous threads create visual noise in the index and dilute the SDMB experience for everyone else.

IMHO people who show a propensity for posting such threads should be slathered in chocolate syrup and slapped with a live mackerel until they cry out the safety word (watermelon) repeatedly and sincerely. That would teach them.

[Morgenstern]

Originally Posted by Inigo Montoya

Because pointless, frivilous threads create visual noise in the index and dilute the SDMB experience for everyone else.

...

We've got to lobby to get the rule forcing people to read every thread changed.

Don't tell anyone, but I ignore threads all the time.

[Czarcasm]

Originally Posted by Darth Panda

If the thread title was really the problem, they could have just changed it.

To what? What title would be appropriate for an OP that has basically no content at all?

[Acsenray]

Originally Posted by Morgenstern

Don't tell anyone, but I ignore threads all the time.

There's a difference between ignoring threads whose topics don't interest you and facing a forum cluttered with contentless threads. It's not a big deal to ignore threads now, because the rules and the moderation result in a system that make it reasonably clear what you're ignoring. But if threads like the one under discussion here are not killed, then you have a risk of a forum becoming more and more cluttered with obtuse nonsense. At some point, there will be enough junk threads so that it's no longer worth even looking at the forum to find something that might interest you.

[billfish678]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

To what? What title would be appropriate for an OP that has basically no content at all?

"No meaningful content. Silly assed thread. Read at your own peril. Enter at your own risk. Getta job slackers."

How fracking hard was that?

And the ironic thing is it would have possibly gone for dozens of pages, been funny as shit, and gone down as one of the classics. "Walmarticus", the word, not the poster, is just ripe for funny material.

The powers that be's obsession with stomping silly threads is...well...silly. TMI about someone's bung hole hyperboles is okay in this high falutin internet fountain of knowledge but some random funny shit done by some pretty clever people might bring down the "class" of this place?

I can see why THAT thread was closed due to the complications of it being a pit thread pitting and in particular one about a specific user. But this PTB feeling that we "can't have silly shit" is well, IMO sillly.

[Darth Panda]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

To what? What title would be appropriate for an OP that has basically no content at all?

I would have went with:

Walmarticus - Go! (non-sequiturs follow)

[Miller]

Originally Posted by Batfish

At the risk of repeating myself, it was precisely Pit material. It was a weak OP being ridiculed for being weak.

The OP wasn't weak, it was absent entirely. I didn't read any of those posts as ridicule. It was just people goofing off and free associating off of an aborted rant. I don't think any of those posts were meant as commentary on the thread itself.

[Drunky Smurf]

Originally Posted by samclem

So, miller gets the props and votes in the mod contest, right? I hate that guy. No one ever says he's an asshole.

Ed, I want my vote back. ............

What? There was a Mod Contest? Man, if I had known I would have totally voted for you and not that other guy, whats-his-face.

[srzss05]

Originally Posted by billfish678

And the ironic thing is it would have possibly gone for dozens of pages, been funny as shit, and gone down as one of the classics.

That's pretty optimistic considering what was posted before it was closed...

Oh, and for the record, while I don't mind such threads being closed, I don't think they should automatically be closed either.