# Mods and the BBQ pit. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 10, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474 "2001-03-10T21:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474/1 "2001-03-10T21:32:11Z")
The moderators have the integral but uneviable task of making sure soemone doesn’t send the MBs way off the beaten path thereby screwing things up for everyone else (in essence.) Does this not mean they’re sorta redundant in the BBQ pit? This is where the denizens of the SDMBs go to let opff steam and keep other MBs for calmer stuff so aren’t Moderators just getting in the way. Don’t mean to denegrate their sterling service in any way but in the BBQ pit any sort of reasoning seems to be kind of out of the question. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474/2 "2001-03-10T21:53:47Z")
Even in the Pit there are limits. No spamming, no really vicious attacks, other sorts of things. The rules are looser, but there are still rules. Lynn Queen of the Pit ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2001, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474/3 "2001-03-10T22:04:11Z")
😕 I’m not sure I follow you, this is how I translate you post: > [@](#): > > The moderators have the integral but uneviable task of making sure soemone doesn’t send the MBs way off the beaten path thereby screwing things up for everyone else (in essence.) Mod’s keep the posts on topic (for the good of the many). > [@](#): > > Does this not mean they’re sorta redundant in the BBQ pit? I’m having some trouble decoding this one: lets move on… > [@](#): > > This is where the denizens of the SDMBs go to let opff steam and keep other MBs for calmer stuff so aren’t Moderators just getting in the way. This comes in 2 parts - 1st this is a place for people to calm down, and 2nd you are asking ‘are moderators getting in the way’ > [@](#): > > Don’t mean to denegrate their sterling service in any way but in the BBQ pit any sort of reasoning seems to be kind of out of the question. who’s reasoning the posters or the mods? I am really trying to understand your post but am lost. Are you trying to say that you think there is no point to a moderator in the pit? or the pit should be deleted? Do you want a free speach forumn where you can post anything you want with no mod’s? I don’t frequent the pit so I don’t know if ‘pit’ posts are being moved to other forumns or closed - maybe this would help explain things. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474/4 "2001-03-11T03:26:10Z")
Eh, sorry, I don’t have a cite offhand, but I can remember a few instances where a surprisingly civil Pit thread was rewarded by being moved to IMHO or MPSIMS. And not just because it had been mistakenly posted in the wrong forum, either. Mods also perform the valuable function of locking certain Pit threads when it appears obvious that nothing more can, or should, be said. So they’re not just the Watch-Your-Mouth Patrol. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mods-and-the-bbq-pit/57474/5 "2001-03-11T16:25:34Z")
I recently asked this about the Pit myself but I figured they are necessary because they can keep out illegal subjects/information/copyright infrigement/threats of violence etc.