Some tiny follow ups to other comments that may be helpful.
First, related to our cites or your “link, please” issue is that we’ve lost some posters (of their own will or due to mod action) because when asked they will publish false, poorly sourced, or misleadingly titled cites. This blows back on them hard and almost always lands them in a Pit thread. And of course, the doubling or trippling down on false assertations rarely goes well. If you post a bad cite, or are wrong on some matter, you’ll get a thousand times less flack for just letting it lie, and even backhanded (we are a snarky bunch!) for just admitting it and moving on.
Second, and related to avoiding the Pit… still definitely my advice for some time, BUT… while the Pit is not-quite anything goes, it’s not uncommon for a poster to start a thread that you may participate in, but the conversation is so intense, or was a barely disguised rant in the first place, and it gets placed in the Pit after the fact. Plenty of us still have reasoned debate in the Pit after such things, but you can find yourself in an uncomfortable place with fewer guardrails despite your intentions. So if a Mod mentions a venue change as it were, pay extra attention!
Not that paying attention to the Mods isn’t a key point no matter what…
This is another example of the Dope – casual references to persons or long-running jokes that are only understandable to those who were there at the time and also paying attention.
May I ask what this current forum is?
I hope I’m not invading your privacy. But it’s on the internet, so it’s public, and it sounds like an interesting place.
Political Stew. Offshoot of Lonely Planet Thorn Tree (TT) message boards when they kicked the politics board off TT. Started in Jan 2005, so almost 20 years old. Privately owned/run now.
TT kicked off the general chat/Your Choice branch circa 2013, so we got most of those posters. TT doesn’t exist anymore. Because it’s from Lonely Planet, most Stewbies are big on travel, and like to argue.
Stew lets in new people who know the way to get in. I’d say message me for the way to get in (kinda a password) but it would look like I’m recruiting. (shrug)
Verrrry lightly moderated. Yet mods get flak for moderation that gets in the way of the feuds. It’s nice to see how another discussion board runs.
Our feuds (sometimes spelled “fueds,” one of our in-jokes) are not games, if I’m interpreting yours. Years ago, it was the Trayf Yobs (or maybe just the frat boys) vs. the Scandi Twat Cabal, but most of the latter group disappeared or were permabanned or died. Now it’s more like Antipodeans* vs. everyone else, or of course the handful of Trump/MAGA faithful vs. everyone else.
*I have an Aussie husband so we make it over to Melbourne every year, and sometimes have “pissups” there, so it’s not all Antipodeans vs. everyone else.
Out of curiosity, what’s the tolerance here for foul language?
I’m a Stew mod an let off an f-bomb there just a few minutes ago! (But I’m much nicer in person and can control myself on a message board.) Come to think of it, my sigline has an f-bomb in it there, but it’s just quoting someone else’s post.
We’re all adults here. I’ve not ever noticed people being offended here by situationally-appropriate cursing, though we’ve had some immature-sounding posters who have tend to swear a lot. (Most of them tend to not last, probably for other reasons.)
Foul language is definitely most prominent in The BBQ Pit, but it’s not prohibited elsewhere, AFAIK. That said, outside of the Pit, remember that it’s generally against board rules to insult or attack other posters (with foul language or not).
