Can there be a ruling on threads like this? I have no issue at all with it being posted, but it seems like either the rules have changed or users have just figured that anything remotely resembling a negative thread of any sort goes in the Pit. I was under the impression that the Pit was for complaints about the board staff, flames of other posters, and things of that nature. It seems like long ago people just posted general gripes (I missed the bus and I’m pissed off!) or threads like above (a serious thread about cancer coming back) in MPSIMS.
So if someone posted a thread like the one above IN MPSIMS, would it be moved to the Pit? I’m not trying to get into a Pitworthy argument, but it seems like everyone who has general gripes from the wrong toppings on their Subway sandwich to folks with serious personal problems post in the Pit. I’m just wondering if that’s the new intent of the Pit or if I’m misremembering and imagining things.
I think it’s what kind of discussion you want: If you want tea and sympathy, MPSIMS. If you want a bitchfest, The Pit.
The distinction between the two is vague and will vary by the person. In fact, I hope the mods don’t make a hard-and-fast rule here (I doubt they will) because it is such a grey area and it must proceed on a thread-by-thread basis.
(Offhand, I don’t see any reason for moving such threads at all. MPSIMS isn’t a swear-free zone and The Pit isn’t devoid of sympathy.)
As long as you’re revisiting the issue of the Pit, could you also consider a blanket ban on GD spewage there–at the moment we’re in a lull, but if you go back as few as 1 or 2 weeks, you’ll see that regularly about 40% of all Pit threads are GD topics that the posters didn’t bother to frame properly for GD or didn’t think they were capable of defending in GD. During the election, the Pit became about 90% politics. Do we really need two forums for endless repetitons of “Bush Sux!”/“No, he doesn’t!”?
If the Pit isn’t supposed to be MPSIMS with swearing, neither is it intended to be GD with insults. (And wasn’t GD orignally created to be a way to quarrantine the politics/religion crap?)
I appreciate that very much and look forward to the results of the discussion. I just think that things worked more smoothly when it was fine to post your everyday rants in MPSIMS and save the Pit for flames and ugly Great Debates (and mod/admin complaints) only. My 2 cents!
Maybe I am not remembering correctly, but was the original purpose of the Pit a place to send posters to hash out arguments that popped up in other threads, thus sparing the rest of us from going through a 10 page flame hijack?
These days the Pit seems to be nothing more than MPSIMS with added cussing.
As you folks are mulling this over, I am more than sure that you want my input. After all, who wouldn’t? Right?
My basic take is that there really is nothing wrong with the way that the Pit is functioning, and that it is pretty much functioning the way that it always has (since I have been here, although folks that have been here longer will probably see changes that I have not).
To put it simply, it seems to have evolved into a forum where you can rant about things that are bothering you, as well as debate issues that are very “hot button”. Some of the better debates that I have seen here have been in the Pit, and generally I see a lot of locked and moved threads and a lot of extra work for little gain.
If you’re looking for lay opinion on the matter, it seems to me that there are at least two ways to deal with “general gripes/personal tragedy.” You can demurely seek sympathy over unpleasant situation or you can shake your fist with rage at the gods. The former would go in MPSIMS, the latter in the Pit.
Obviously, there is a great deal of middle ground, and there will be grey areas calling for moderator action. Nevertheless, even in the Pit, non-jerkishness in the context of the thread should apply.
This is where I disagree- I don’t see why a “shake your fist with rage at the Gods” wouldn’t go in MPSIMS. Og as my witness when the boards started (here, at least) if I’m remembering right, that’s how it was. And it worked well- there was nothing wrong with bitching in MPSIMS, you just couldn’t flame there, which is entirely different.
Now we have general snark and daily life issues popping up in the Pit where people have free reign to be nasty jerks about the very fact that someone posted, the content of their gripe, and whatever else they want to nasty about. The problem is that the same vitrol is used on a person who is upset about missing the train this morning and the person who is angry about perceived Mod unfairness.
I see it as a problem mainly because people seem to think that any gripe must be put in the Pit, and I don’t think that is or should be the case. There should be a place to put healthy, normal gripes that is outside the flames.