This thread is clearly pitting the Pit. Shouldn’t it be moved?
I agree with the OP. The Pit totally sucks.
Lots of fun debates happen in the pit. I, for one, like it for the exact same reason cited above: it tends to be less contaminated, somehow, with the lekatts of the world, since we’re not forced to suffer such fools gladly.
Incidentally, I think it was rather poor form of you to, upon returning, immediately start in with a pit thread but then refuse to follow it.
Personally, I’d rather deal with the more straightforward stuff you find in the pit than the “plausible deniability” type of passive aggressiveness one sometimes sees in other forums.
Yea, and the Mods totally suck too. 
Totally.
The Pit, I think, is more like what most of the 'net is really like, but it’s still definitely part of the Straight Dope. Even with the different rules, you sometimes get good arguments and interesting threads.
I’ve seen many other boards that do not allow Pit-like posts anywhere and have no set aside place for them. These boards tend to have a tension running through them, because on any messageboard, the longer you stick around, the greater the chance you’ll come across something that just makes you steaming mad. Mr. Moto’s analogy of a safety valve is excellent. If you got into a debate in GD with someone who believes the earth is flat, and no amount of GD-style debating got through to them, you have two choices: ignore it or rant about it in the Pit. Some people can do the former; some people want to do the latter.
The Pit also serves as a way to vent about stupid bosses, sales clerks, and others in ways that we would never do in real life. Why? Because sometimes you’re just really, really angry. And you don’t want to be polite. But calling your boss a cunt to his face is just a fast way to get fired. Calling him a cunt here lets you get it out of your system. (You know the ol’, “write that letter then stick it in a drawer” approach people always talk about).
Finally, the Pit serves as a place to complain about the administration of this board. Several changes have taken place as a result of member complaints. The admins and mods are not jackbooted Nazis (really, they aren’t, not even Giraffe) who can get away with anything because no one is allowed to complain. A very large, very popular messageboard imploded either this year or last (don’t remember) because of this very behavior.
I love the debates that can come out of Pit threads. I enjoy them better than those in GD on the whole.
Most everyone has a place here they really like.
And a place they really despise.
So I get emails that beg me to remove ___________ from the board. (Fill in with what you hate hate hate.)
Usually ___________ is a place.
(Sometimes it’s a person.)
And oh, the board would just be perfect if ___________ was removed.
Except one person’s despised place is someone else’s favorite place.
Sorry. It’s not going to happen.
Don’t like it? Don’t go there. Brighten the corner where you are and make it a more worthwhile place where you DO like posting. And let the rest slide.
TubaDiva
Blatant case of Brown-nosing, but Hoorah. Well said and should be supported.
I find good, fascinating and funny threads in every forum, but then I navigate largely by the New Posts and User CP buttons.
I realize that debates happen in the Pit. I did not say that debates do not happen in the Pit. I said that Lynn told me that the Pit is not the place for debates, and that if I wanted to debate I should go to GD.
I think it is rather poor form of you to attack me here, rather than in the Pit. So much for the Pit serving to draw away personal attacks and the like from other forums.
Uh huh. No passive aggressives in the Pit, for sure. :rolleyes:
He didn’t exactly “attack” you, did he? He just made an observation.
And of course, you’re not defending him, you’re just making an observation, right? It seems to me that an observation is along the lines of: I noticed that you posted in the Pit immediately upon your return. That would be what someone observed. But to say that you think posting it exhibited “poor form” is to express an opinion about the poster. Why you might believe that we all should be here in ATMB expressing our opinions about each other’s posting ethics is unclear.
Yes.
No.
I sometimes feel Excalibre is a hypocrite about some things, but in this case you seem to lack an ability to distinguish criticism of a posting style/post from criticism of an individual.
It’s the word “attack” that’s wrong. He didn’t attack you.
To me, when somebody addresses your behavior (“you left the seat up”) as opposed to the person (“you’re such a slob”), it’s not an attack, and being able to listen and respond to such criticisms – when they are politely offered – is a major part of getting along.
Whether or not he should be posting even mild criticisms in this forum is a question for the moderators.
Because you won’t respond to people in the pit. It is poor form to take a shit in the pit (your first post back) then not respond.
[end hijack]
Why do you hate the University of Pittsburgh, askeptic?
Me too, but that’s not what happened. What happened was (“you left the seat up and I thought that was slobbish”). Also, the description of another member, Lekatt, as a contaminant seemed less than complimentary.
Much like the question of whether an OP must in every instance return to his thread.
I did not take a shit. More needlessly pejorative language, only you seem to be escalating it. I had a complaint about the administration. I posted it in the appropriate forum. I did not intend, and had no obligation, to host a debate over it or defend myself against criticisms about it. If people cared to express opinions about “poor form”, that would have been a good place to do it.
Hope springs eternal, I reckon.
And another thread, upon further reflection, turns out to be all about Lib. Why am I not surprised?
I have a theory. He realizes that techniques he uses are being discussed, even if the posters do not realize it yet. However, he subconsciously catches on, and posts to defend his methods.
Or maybe he just really likes attention.
The irony, it burns usssss.