Well, yes. But you’ve never been accused of being overly tactful, Milo. 
I will now apply my usual, genteel restraint and not dignify that with a response, andros.
Isn’t ‘tact’ how I put that girlie calendar on my corkboard?
And wally 'attended" my 1000 PCP, I think his last- with not much to say but “congrats”. And the reason why I have “fixated” on PCP- is that the rest of your request was so reasonable, that i agreed 100%. But, then- as sorta of an afterthought- you threw in that bit about PCPs- while your moderator hat was still on. And, yes- somewhere we DO have to draw the line- which is why I support you 100% on ALL your other requests- just not the last one. PCPs are more than just a way of saying 'congrats" on making “X” posts- they are a small way of telling some poster WHY we appreciate their work.
Hey- I think one of the greatest parts about MPSIMS is that someone, in the middle of the nite- feeling depressed about his pet dying, or whatever- can post. And we will respond with hugs, prayers, support, advice and whatever. And, at least in most of the case- be sincere about it. This sort of comraderie has actually made a tear or 2 come to my eyes.
And it is hard to do this without knowing folks- and we learn about folks at the PCPs.
So, Euty, my freind- please continue with your justified crusade against the rest of the crap you mentioned. But NOT PostCountParties, OK? And, folks- when we do have PCPs, let us try to make them at more meaningful milestones, not just 100- OK? And cooperate with the Moderators other, very justified requests, please.
So, it would be in very bad form for me to come in here, post a random flirt to Coldie (love your nips!) And an even more random flirt to Euty (love your body of Christ) and then to congratulate myself on almost 2000 posts? Yeah, that WOULD be in bad form.
I won’t do it then. Just disregard everything I said and just ignore me. Thanks!
As one who does 99% of her posting in MPSIMS (I do read the other forums, but the level of genius frightens me), I’ve got to agree here.
Sure, there’s a lot of redundant threads, such as post-count-parties, in MPSIMS. But there’s a lot of that in the Pit and GD as well. In the GD threads, though, one is more liable to actually get a bit of one’s ignorance eradicated. In the MPSIMS post count parties, one is quite likely to get some brain cells eradicated. Neither one is necessarily a bad thing.
But as Polycarp said, “the Moderator is not wrong.” Euty, UncleBeer, and Coldfire give us MPSIMSers a LOT of latitude over there. Euty even did us the courtesy of phrasing it as a request, not as carved-in-stone law. My personal belief is it was because he trusts our judgement. He knows us clowns over there well enough to know that if he asks us to do something, we’ll probably do it.
Eventually.
If he gives us enough beer.
And offers to show us his leather-clad butt. 
Hey! HEY! Over here…
Damn.
Anyways.
We’re really trying to kill two birds with one stone, here.
First- each thread takes up more space than the sum of its posts. That is, two threads of thirty posts takes up more server space than a single thread of sixty posts. This means that each new thread adds weight to the workload of our already over-taxed server. So cutting down on the number of new threads started means less slowdowns in accessing the boards.
Second- each new thread is one more that everyone has to leaf through. Whether it’s moderators looking over the content to make sure everyone plays nice, or posters looking to respond or just read- the more threads there are, the more workload for the mods and the more jumbled it seems to the regular viewer. I remember when MPSIMS threads with no replies might actually hang around for a day. Now they’re gone in a couple of hours.
We love the success that that is- it means we’ve got a lot of people who feel that this is a great place to come and talk and chat and ask questions. But it also means a pace bordering on frenetic, for regular posters and especially for our MPSIMS and GQ mods.
So we’re just asking the most frivolous of activities be curtailed, and that energy focused on other discussions (like the Death Star vs. The Enterprise or whatnot). We’re not forcing a “no flirt” zone in MPSIMS, nor are we stating categorically that Tater’s navel is off-limits for discussions. We’re just asking that you take a bit to decide whether a new thread discussing Tater’s navel is really necessary when you could just ressurrect one of the older ones or make your comments in another, related thread. And there are plenty of other threads for flirting and such- why raise a fuss because we’re asking you to take a step back from one particular type? Cripes, go over to IMHO and join one of the “what kind of mathematic function would you fuck?*” threads and do it there.
[sup]* Not that such a thread is in IMHO, but if it were, I’d definitely be doing those percentage signs. Two holes for lovin’, baby.[/sup]
uh huh…figures…
I’m over there voting you the freaking cutest, most adorable guy, and here you are, ogling nekkid Geo-wenches…
fine.
and stalking you is not the easiest either, buddy…
sheesh…
coldy would probably appreciate me…
Small correction, John.
“What sort of mathematical function would you fuck?” would go in IMHO. In view of some of the threads in there about what people would hop in bed with, it might actually be rather mundane for that forum. :rolleyes:
Since Lynn’ll be wandering through here eventually to ensure that we aren’t going beyond Pit levels of decorum (sheesh!), and in view of John’s comment on multiple threads straining the server, may I take the occasion to insert a short hijack here and ask, if it’s public information, what your criteria are for deleting old threads? I know you’ve been removing the ATMB test threads from UBB days; I’m wondering what you’ll be doing as regards the other Fora. There are some useful old threads in GD and CCC that probably will never be revived but are worthwhile references. Is there some way to archive closed threads that might be worthwhile to somebody someday?
A Question For The Mods:
Does this mean that I’ll have to ressurect an old thread when I hit 4000, or would it be acceptible to start a new one?
See, I kinda sorta wanted to, well, you know, get to know Euty in the Virtually Biblical Sense (since I am his virtual wife and all) and I was thinking it might be kinda nice to have clean sheets, so to speak.
As far as PCP’s go, the first couple were very wry, self-deprecating affairs. The spirit behind them was, “my life is so damned exciting I’m celebrating how many times I posted on a board!” Predictably, Dopers ran w/ the joke and had some creative fun with idea of a virtual party.
Two problems: 1. it stopped being a joke. People started caring in all seriousness about how many posts they had–and padding, etc. to up the count and 2. after a while the virtual party idea got worn out. After the drunken bash PCPs we had backyard bbq PCPs, black tie ball PCPs, and even a formal tea PCP. It just plain got stale from repetition.
Polycarp made some very wise points, as usual. Posters can and do come here for comfort, advice, companionship. Just to further his examples, keep in mind Euty who posted to simply share his grief over a friend’s trouble–and Dopers, unasked, insisted on sending money to help the woman. People ask after Krispy’s wife. People asked after Kricket’s son when he was hit by a car.
There are too many examples to mention them all, people in bad jobs, unhappy relationships, grieving from loss of a relative–or a pet, delighted over a new job, getting engaged, publishing a book, having a baby…look, they go on all the time but none of them are dependent on PCPs.
PCPs are just one issue, but fun and community can still flourish with a bit of discretion applied. Hell, ain’t like flirtation and off-the-wall nonsense can be a blast. But the whole post count thing has grown into a monster that’s clogging the server and frankly boring a lot of posters.
So…discretion was requested, that’s all.
Veb
Actually, Euty did not say: “No more Post Count parties”. What he did request was that several activities, that seemed to have just the purpose of adding another line to a thread, or padding ones post count- stop. Very reasonable. As an aside, he mentioned that PCP were annoying as they seemed to promulgate that sort of behavior. I sincerely doubt that someone pads his post count- simply to have a PCP. However, there is far too much padding, and some of the threads seemed designed to annoy the Mods & crash the system.
So- perse- it looks like(at least for now) you can do a PCP, to flirt with Euty, or for anyother reason. BUT- do not pad your posts just to get there. And- we should all think before we start another thread. Perhaps a milestone like 1000, or 4000 is not so bad- they happen rarely. But 100- sheesh. I really do not think PCP, at least for the "milestones’, are any more "mundane & pointless’ than half the other threads there. They are one of the few things i look for, there.
Some suggestions i could make, tho- no threads go beyond 5 (or maybe 6, in GD)pages- the real long ones seem to gum up the works. No poster can have more than one thread (that they have started) active in any one board. And, Eutys OTHER suggestions- ie no threads specifically designed to see how long they can get, or to just pad post count, etc.- become real rules.
Well, if you weren’t over in that other thread flirting with your own husband of all people, you mighta gotten here in time!
I would also like to add, for the record, John Corrado, that I will gladly have your baby if you ever feel so inclined.
That is all.
Mostly OK ideas, Daniel. However, the “only one active thread at a time” felches leprous armadillos (hey, it’s the Pit, and this thread hasn’t had the obligatory reference to felching yet!:D). To start with, a thread without a padlock is “active” even if nobody’s posted to it since VBB went into existence. (After reading a post by Jodi about beating dead horses at the end of a 5-page thread over in GD, I toyed with the idea of resurrecting a thread in which some of the legendary posters, past and present, of this board: Jodi, Satan, Melin, Deceased Equine, and the Phi-Delta-Rho-Sigma poster, to name a few, got into it on who was and who was not beating a dead horse. Discretion prevailed.) And there is no accounting for what might or might not be good new-post fodder. One day last week, I started two threads in MPSIMS. I happened to have two topics that were MPSIMS fodder. That is 40% as many as I started there during all of 2000. SqrlCub had three interesting threads going in MPSIMS at the same time, on quite different themes, last month. I’ve seen as many as five Great Debates threads active on page one of that forum’s index which were originated by the same person, on quite different topics. All were doing nicely, provoking spirited debate on the topic in question (or perhaps a hijack). Currently jmullaney has either two or three active threads there, having come up with topics that provoked interest. In short, bad rule idea.
Cristi, honey!
While you are busy churning out 30 more charming and intelligent MPSIMS posts, I will be changing the sheets and buying the wine and the candles. Maybe a nice Steak Moutarde dinner for two? With sauteed mushrooms and perhaps some lightly steamed green beans almondine?
Hmmmm…It sounds like the rest of us will have to carry out your post count party without you being in attendance?
Scotti
Damn- I missed the “virtual wedding thread” and so passed on my chance to ask scotti to marry me. Is it too late?
Poly- you objections are reasonable- but you could just wait until your other thread dies.
Folks- any other ideas of how to damn the flood- and still keep a FEW post count parties?
Oh no, Scotti. I was kinda digging the idea of everyone being there to watch.
But the dinner sounds delish!
Oooh! Ooooh! How many rants have I earned, yet?
Oh. You were talking about starting serious discussions about the board.
Sorry, not interested.
From Polycarp:
Yes, I’m removing the UBB threads, a lot of test threads, and “bug report” threads (which are useful at the time, but not useful later). I’m also removing Dopefest and PCP threads, as they, again, are useful before and during the event, but not much afterwards. I’m just skimming the Dopefest threads. If there’s anything that anyone wants from them, let me know. If you want to copy the thread to your website before I delete it, let me or Tubadiva know, so we can try to get permission from the Reader.
Right now, this has kept me plenty busy enough. When I get most of these threads under control, then I’ll start working on other stuff. I’m open to suggestions on what to delete and what to keep. Probably any discussion about such things would be better posted in ATMB, though.
We THOUGHT that we could archive stuff under the UBBS system, and have it transfer over to the vBulletin board system. We were wrong. We lost a lot of excellent threads and Tuba is still a bit miffed about that (actually, miffed is not the right word, royally pissed off is more like it). This IS something that we want to have, but right now, our tech is as overworked as our server. I’d love to see more stuff in our FAQ, for instance, but I don’t have the skills or the access (I’d have to physically be in the ChiReader office) to put stuff up.
Lynn
Administrator
For the Straight Dope
I guess that just this once, I’ll do the cleaning up afterward! Just this once and just because it’s your special day, Cristi! But you’ll be back to work the very next day! Scotti and I have our own things to take care of!
Anyway, back on topic, I mentioned this before but let’s try again. Instead of having a post count party for the sake of having a post count party, just throw in a little, “Hey, this is my 8,452 post and BTW, did I tell you about my cool new car? It’s green and…”
Kill two birds with one stone. That way, we have two different topics posted in the same thread nad if you’re clever enough to title it something like, “My new car is better than yours!” or “Do you know if you can do it in the backseat of a Cabriolet?”, you’ll probably get more replies than you would have for a plain, old boring post count party! Be creative, people!
I’d just like to add that lynn’s and others suggestions were perfectly reasonable and I see no need to continue this debate. If you feel the need to ask yourself, really ask yourself, why?