# I pit DrDeth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [February 28, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971 "2021-02-28T19:52:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 89

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1765 "2024-03-14T15:05:27Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> But that seems to be a lot of intent read into a very simple reminder line.

I’m not saying that _was_ your intent, I’m saying that’s what it has the _appearance_ of.

> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I should have just not posted anything.

Yeah, I think so.

I for one thought he was actually back, and then immediately did something Pit- (and ban-) worthy, so you got my hopes up for nothing 😃

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1766 "2024-03-14T19:48:35Z")

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Enuf said.

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**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1767 "2024-03-14T20:44:12Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> I have a reminder on my Email Calendar to restore his title

I’m surprised that doesn’t happen automatically !

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1768 "2024-03-14T20:47:24Z")

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Nope, it is mostly me. Software that could do that would be nice.

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**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1769 "2024-03-14T21:13:56Z")

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I see from the mod guide ( [Here](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-moderation-guide/63116#suspend-the-user-27) ) that there is a box to select the suspension  
period … does it not automatically unsuspend after that period ?  
If not, what’s the point of it ?

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1770 "2024-03-14T21:17:16Z")

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It unsuspends. The reminder is to change the **Title** back, we manually change the title to Suspended and we need to be able to restore the original title.

No mechanism for it, so I have pretty much taken it on myself to put a reminder in my Email Calendar to do it. @DrDeth will be restored to “Charter Member” from “SUSPENDED 30 days”.

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**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1771 "2024-03-14T21:20:36Z")

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That’s … prehistoric !!  
ETA … oh… so it does actually automatically unsuspend…  
Do you really need to change the title ?.. i suppose it’s because you  
want “suspended” to be shown on every post by that user… Yeah, that would be handy.  
(I see it does show in the user’s profile)  
\</hi-jack\>

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**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1772 "2024-03-14T21:25:37Z")

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Since you brought it up, titles are a honorable hold-over from the prior service. But we have no plans on the horizon for a subscription or even donation model for the site (despite numerous threads on it). So those of us less senior members of the board have no options to ever aspire to such a thing!

Since it’s now clear that those woulld have to be manually granted, it would be a mod-back-breaking task to open up title requests to all of us such lowly members, but maybe it would be a neat idea to do a once-a-month contest with the reward of having a custom title (within the bounds of existing good taste, which is sometimes in low supply here… 🙂 ) .

We could even link it to posters who have over 100 posts in the prior month, encouraging some of our lurkers to be more participatory.

If you think it’s possible, or at least, has some merit, we could open a thread about it in ATMB, and save this thread for it’s intended purpose.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1773 "2024-03-14T21:28:46Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> If you think it’s possible, or at least, has some merit, we could open a thread about it in ATMB, and save this thread for it’s intended purpose.

Fine to open the thread, I’m down with throwing ideas around to literally play games with the titles, but I am just 1 mod. It is kind of nice to be able to set my title at least. I should come up with something more clever. This is my second one.

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**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1774 "2024-03-14T21:42:40Z")

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He seems to have no idea of how to make an argument. He simply asserts that the WWI reparations imposed on Germany were too high, without providing any calculation (and defends that arguable assertion with the ridiculous assertion that France was not occupied to any significant extent during WWI). He argues that Hugo finalists aren’t popular by comparing books actually eligible for the award to books that aren’t eligible (or by comparing book rankings in tiny categories with book rankings in much bigger categories without any recognition that that makes the comparison meaningless).

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1775 "2024-03-15T03:15:49Z")

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I know this isn’t a poll, but I really like having an ongoing Pit thread for a problematic poster.

As someone who doesn’t always keep track of who said what in which thread, I’m sometimes surprised and taken aback by a comment. And it’s nice to be able to see if it’s just me, or if the poster has a history of being “that way” to others as well.

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**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1776 "2024-03-15T04:07:28Z")

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> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> No mechanism for it, so I have pretty much taken it on myself to put a reminder in my Email Calendar to do it. @DrDeth will be restored to “Charter Member” from “SUSPENDED 30 days”.

Wow, it seems like this could be replaced by a script. Of course, it’d need your (or someone’s) moderator credentials, so it might not be a practical solution.

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**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1777 "2024-03-22T04:29:47Z")

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Whether or not you feel DD is a useful poster, I’ve noticed that one thing they seemingly have backslid on (further?) after their return is the insistence on using alternate spellings/punctuation as mentioned upthread. It’s likely that they’ve done it previously, but it’s the first time I’m noticing it being in almost every post.

It’s not breaking any rules AFAICT, but it seems strangely deliberate and very likely provocative to posters who are already hoping for an actual ban. It could be a passive-aggressive attempt to strike back, which I find misplaced, or it could be old patterns because they’re under stress (IRL or from the recent ban), or any of a dozen hypothesis, but the timing (if it’s anything other than my imagination, granted) seems telling.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1778 "2024-03-22T07:51:14Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> very likely provocative to posters who are already hoping for an actual ban

I’m looking forward to a ban, and I don’t give a shit about their idiosyncratic punctuation. It’s the content of their posts that matter. Their drivel is usually perfectly legible, more’s the pity.

Their shit way of citing Wikipedia, on the other hand…

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**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1779 "2024-03-22T16:36:55Z")

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My question is, -if- he values this place as much as it seems, why would he turn up the irritation level?(and again, it’s an entirely my subjective evaluation that he is doing so) His prior pattern would be to at least _appear_ (we disagree on the honesty of such, and that’s fine) to be contrite and improve, earning again the benefit of the doubt.

Irritating, within the rules, those who are already looking for a valid reason to report you is counterproductive to those efforts. Which makes me wonder, and in all sympathy, if they’ve had some sort of physical / mental / other IRL episode that’s driven them out of a fully rational response. The action that drove the justified suspension seemed an _already_ excessive reaction to a (in the greater scheme of things) minor frustration or disappointment.

To be clear - I am not advising this as an excuse for said actions, if he wants to convince the mods such a thing happened, like S\_S’s “son” creating an account and triggering a sock-based-ban-and-revocation, that’s up to the mods. But if DD is melting down IRL and it’s bleeding over here, I can spare some pity while not excusing the results.

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1780 "2024-03-22T16:47:58Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Irritating, within the rules, those who are already looking for a valid reason to report you is counterproductive to those efforts.

My point was that, if I were reporting DrD, it would be for what I thought were actual rules violations not picayune bullshit like variant spelling _that is nevertheless clear enough_. If he constantly spelled like Banks did in _Feersum Endjinn_, I’d report him no problem.

But minor idiosyncrasies? Naah, that’s needlessly petty, and I would hope the mods would mod anyone bringing it up in-thread, not DrD. And if they reported it, I hope derisive laughter via PM was the only reply.

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1781 "2024-03-22T17:33:24Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> My question is, -if- he values this place as much as it seems, why would he turn up the irritation level?(and again, it’s an entirely my subjective evaluation that he is doing so) His prior pattern would be to at least _appear_ (we disagree on the honesty of such, and that’s fine) to be contrite and improve, earning again the benefit of the doubt.

It’s because he’s a malevolent asshole. Seriously. He is a nasty piece of shit. He likes to get under people’s skin and antagonize them. HE’S A TROLL. Not just an idiot who puts his foot in his mouth and claims it’s a sandwich (though he does that too), but if someone disagrees with him (and lots of people disagree with him because he’s such an idiot) he will use trolling tactics to needle them. That includes using shitty grammar, deliberately misinterpreting what someone says, or straight up lying.

Above all else, he fails the number one rule of “don’t be a jerk” and fails it _hard_. He couldn’t be banned fast enough.

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**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1782 "2024-03-22T18:12:23Z")

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> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Whether or not you feel DD is a useful poster, I’ve noticed that one thing they seemingly have backslid on (further?) after their return is the insistence on using alternate spellings/punctuation as mentioned upthread. It’s likely that they’ve done it previously, but it’s the first time I’m noticing it being in almost every post.

FWIW, I agree with you. His bizarre spelling is annoying, partly because it serves no useful purpose whatsoever, and all the more so because i’m pretty sure it’s a deliberate attempt to annoy. And yes, he’s been doing it for years. Of course @MrDibble is also right that his shitty posts and stubbornly incessant arguing are a bigger problem, but it’s all part of the same jerkishness.

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**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1783 "2024-03-22T21:14:05Z")

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He’s also just really dumb but thinks he’s quite a bit cleverer than he really is.

Sometimes there’s not a Machiavellian scheme dictating the spelling of every word and the editing of every post. Sometimes dumb is just dumb

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**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1784 "2024-03-22T21:33:02Z")

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> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> It’s because he’s a malevolent asshole.

Isn’t this the person that had to be banned from Game of Thrones threads for constantly posting spoilers because real fans would’ve have read the books or some such nonsense? Yeah, an asshole.

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