A while back I asked in another thread:
But I guess Ed managed to miss it, though he was quite active in the thread. With the recent departure of Giraffe as a Pit mod, I assume that the changes are imminent. Any way we can get a heads up? What are the real goals of the new direction? I must say if it’s mainly so that “staff can enjoy posting there” it’s mighty ironic that you lost your best Moderator over it.
So what’s the scoop?
I thought the Pit was supposed to be a release valve so the other fora remained civil. Is that changing?
I’m guessing the crux of Ed’s problem is the chronic and acute flaming of mods particularly the administrators. Most of the mods relish combating flames, because they are good at it, but there are some who do not come off very well and choose to ignore rather than fight back when the heat is on.
In addition, mod flaming has changed somewhat. There used to be a lot more support for mods in a mod pitting thread, and the support replies were most likely quite welcome. That has become more and more infrequent. Especially with the administrators.
I can understand Ed’s concern. There is no need to ridicule and harrass a mod. Its just that if he wants to continue the practice of mod ruling challenges allocated to the pit where ridicule and harrassment are acceptable even desired in general, he’s going to be left with numerous subjective rulings to stop the flames that are going to be difficult to accept by the posters in general.
I understand those concerns too. I’m still curious if that’s all it is, or if he thinks a nicer Pit would attract/keep more users and whether he’s seen some other forum’s rules that are raucous and fun that he’s going to emulate.
Not that I particularly agree with some recent decisions re modding, but I think Ed is under some pressure from the new bosses of the parent company.
I think they just don’t like the Pit.
I also believe this board will undergo some major changes in the next few months, none of which will please long time members.
Probably, but it’s not like there are any changes that would please long time members.
THAT is an understatement and a half.
:mad:
Right, so why not leave things as they are, seeing as this board has a huge number of posters for a general interest message board.
The problem as I see it is that they want to be posters and mods. I have no problem with that. But if you want to engage in regular poster Pit behavior such as insults and snark you can’t be made immune from the same. Its one or the other. Either you keep your self out of the fray 100% of the time or you dip into the Pit and get dirty, even if you are wearing a Mod hat. I would have no problem with it going either way, as long as it is consistent
I think the Pit is basically incongruous with the rest of this place, and I wouldn’t mind if it went away.
I couldn’t disagree more. The board is by and large, an informative and helpful place, but it has a few tiresome know-it-alls who need the occasional shutting up. Rather than have this go to PMs where it would be unseen, why not have a place where people can face off away from the civil discourse of the rest of the board? If you don’t feel right going in there, don’t, but it’s not like it doesn’t serve a purpose. IMHO it’s the most fun board on here.
Actually we often have better debates and discussions in the pit where the tone while often more surly and in your face is usually more relaxed and conversational. I would hate to see it change much. **GD **is often a failure for exchanging ideas.
I imagine this is the mindset of an engine designer who doesn’t want to bother building an exhaust system.
You know, I’m not convinced this is the main problem, but I do see it as a problem. I’ve never understood why the standard practice isn’t to have each moderator have a seperate account that they make official moderator proclamations with, and their “normal” account can be treated (read: flamed) just like you’d treat any other poster. I’d insist on it for myself if I were volunteering for the job of moderator.
I think you have hit the issue squarely on the head. I’ve wondered when they would tone down the pit to a more PG 13, or at least a R17 level. I think that’s where all this is headed.
I’m not so much against new rules as much as I’m against rules that are patently unclear and applied differently to different posters or on different days.
Since discussions are currently going on, it would be premature for any mod or admin to comment at this point. To allay fears: there is certainly no discussion of closing the Pit down, nor of trying to make it PG13. The goal is to keep things pretty much the same – over 98% of past posts would not be different under any of the suggestions being discussed. The goal is to draw the line clearly, so as to tame down that small minority of posts that are over the line.
Would this be before or after you successfully stack marbles in a corner or herd cats?
Have you guys got enough input from the doper community?
That would appear on the face of it to be at odds with Giraffe’s stated reasons for stepping down:
In one of the other threads, it’s beginning to sound like the F-Bomb is too threatening in the Pit.