I agree that by eliminating the chatter, you eliminate the life of the boards. I do agree that merging Comments on Cecil’s Columns / Comments on Staff Reports is an okay idea. (They used to be the same forum, didn’t they?)
Interesting idea, but is that even logistically possible?
I’d like to see a five minute editing window allowed. That could help with typos and sudden bursts of venom that one immediately regrets. After five minutes, editing is disallowed.
Oh, no. Oh, no no no no no no no no no! The Americans would not be left out. Not a bit of it. I would get together with Owl and the other renegades and piss-takers and we’d take turns to add a smug “Excuse me, but what does an American know about Monty Python, Lord of the Rings, Tony Blair, the Royal Family?”
I think the “Cecil” and “Cecil-wannabe” forums can be merged. Ditto the MMPIMS and the IMHO, as I’m always confusing them, don’t know how to write one of them, and never know which one I should stick my new post in, unless it’s a poll.
And I nominate Cisco for a new mod, as he(?) has so much time on his hands and he gets a bit emotional from time to time. Perfect mod material.
But have you been suspended yet? Best to get that over with now, I’d say.
I would second the five minute and/or strike-through editing ideas. How much of the board resources are used by posters (including me) that add a second post to clarify typos or misstatements?
I also agree with combining CCC & CSR.
I wouldn’t mind creating sub-fora in GD and the Pit which kept everything under the general forum, but allowed users to easily avoid things like American politics should they be furriners. So you could have a few sub-fora like ‘American Politics’ ‘Religion & Spirituality’, etc.
Same with GQ and the really common questions, which are currently addressed by sticky, like the ‘Computer Question? Look here first!’ thread.
<sarcasm>
Lastly, I’d like to see a forum where banned members can post while the rest of us can gawk at the trainwreck.
We can call it ‘Banned Name’ or something like that. snicker Kind of like a playpen for the special kids. Can’t you imagine the wondrous spectacle if all the socks, troll, idiots and haters were stuck in a room together? Maybe you could promote one of them to be the ‘Banned Leader’ and they could mod that forum.
<sarcasm>
Interesting thought, but I’ve got a feeling that only a handful of people would qualify, given the multiple personaliy situation.
picker, roger thornhill, I agree. I think the distinction between MPSIMS and IMHO is artifical, and the same goes with CCC and CSR. I’d merge MPSIMS and IMHO into General Chatter, and CCC and CSR into Comments on the Columns.
Cafe Society is fine as it is. I think it’s good we finally have it, even though it could reasonably be subsumed under General Chatter.
Cisco, I agree with having a place for formal disagreements with Mods and Admins, and I think ATMB is the most logical place to do it. Anything of the sort in The Pit quickly becomes unreadable and more inflammatory than vaporized poison ivy.
ATMB, on the other hand, is also almost half stickies at this point, and I see value in that as well. Since I removed two fora, I think I’m obliged to create one just for stickies and other Board Announcements. Only Mods and Admins will be able to post there, but we all should read it. (Yes, it is possible with our current software. I think.)
GQ is essential to the character and tone of this board. It must be preserved as-is.
I think GD and The Pit should be left alone as well. They’re kept distinct and they both serve their role in the overall ecology.
So, my new arrangement looks like this:
[ul]
[li]Board Announcements – A read-only (for users) forum that’s one-stop shopping for all your SDMB news.[/li][li]About This Message Board – Technical questions and formal complaints.[/li][li]Comments on the Columns – Tell Cecil and His Minions what you really think. They can take it.[/li][li]General Questions – Any question with a factual answer. (Ask about ‘-gry’ and you sleep with the fishes.)[/li][li]General Chatter – Pointless to profound, including games and polls.[/li][li]Cafe Society – Anything artistic, plus TV for good measure.[/li][li]Great Debates – Debate the great issues of our time. (Also the place for religious witnessing.)[/li][li]The BBQ Pit – Flame on![/li][/ul]
Incidentally, Cisco:
If memory serves, The BBQ Pit was formed to allow folks tired of being nice to the nasties to, for lack of a more appropriate phrase, “take it to the pit.” One of the fundamental differences between the Pit and GD is that in the Pit you can say, for example, “Cisco is a [exxxxxxxxxxpletive],” whereas in GD you have to be considerably more intelligent to be able to phrase such a thing such that you don’t get an official warning;)
No, I don’t. I’ll admit that I have been a little frustrated with the drama and the flirt threads lately, on a board that I feel should have the overlying theme of a newspaper column devoted to fighting ignorance, but as I stated in the OP, I had no real agenda in starting this thread.
Yes. All hail the unquestionable authority of the hive mind :rolleyes:.
I do? I’m not really sure what you’re implying here. You realize that you have three times as many posts per day than me, don’t you?
I do? When? I’m not saying I don’t, I’m just curious what you mean.
Huh? Me? What?
I posted a thread proposing this a couple of years ago. I thought we should call it “The Library”. It didn’t get much attention.
Touché, but if someone does something really worth our contempt wouldn’t it be better to write a well-developed argument or complaint wherein we might call them an [expletive], rather than a spittle-flecked rambling wherein we repeatedly call them an [exxxxxxxxxpletive]? I’m just throwin’ ideas around, here.
I don’t know if this is a sudden sense you have or if it’s been building up, but I can guaran-damn-tee you there was a similar feel to this place four years ago, and even back as far as June of 2000, when I registered. Someone who’s been here longer than I will perhaps let us know if this was a sudden occurrence or if, as my impression is, it has been this way for as long as there has been a place for it.
Frankly, my friend, I can think of a few instances where, having lost all respect for the person(s) in question, I had no desire to give them any more benefit of doubt and really just wanted to flame them until there was nothing left to burn. There’s a thread in the Pit right now with that sort of tone to it. I think I’d prefer seeing that type of thing kept far from the more tame GD threads.
I will also say that I think keeping flaming - in general - confined to one place makes life much more fun for those of us (like, for example, me) who’ve temporarily gotten tired of the Pit and want something with less of the vitriol and bad news. (This is also one reason I tend to stay far from GD.)
I’ll make a deal with the Mods. For every post I make, they can pay me fifty cents. ( and not the rapper.)
Going once, going twice…Sold to the Jackbooted Mod!
Oh, and if MPSIMS, IMHO and Cafe Society were shut down, I might become an active model citizen. Once my eyes adjust to the burning rays of the sunshine.
But I don’t waste any time reading threads, just posting my gems. Shit, even AndyPolley probably spends more time here, and he’s only made 100 posts in four years. Not that I’ve read any of those, except the ones about me.
Not to mention the religious talks are mostly Christian debates. I’d take part more if there was sensible non-Christian debates.
I like IMHO & MPSIMS too much to lose them.
And NO Avatars!
I think roger was referring to the TubaDiva situation - i.e. a suspension is now a prerequisite for being an admin or mod.
On a different note, if MPSIMS and IMHO are combined, it would create one gigantic forum. Just because of that I think they should stay separate.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. 
IIRC, the reason IMHO was created was that MPSIMS was getting so overused that new threads would sink too quickly for anyone to notice. Thus MPSIMS 2 (elec–stop that!). Merging the two fora would re-create the problem that IMHO solved.
I agree with merging the comments on columns fora, though.
IMHO and MPSIMS probably serve a useful purpose for the whole board. They provide a place for, well mundane stuff and opinions. Without them that stuff would not be eliminated. It would just end up inthe other forums. diluting their true purpose.