Guests can not start threads in the PIT. Maybe also GD.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8871280#post8871280
No more “whooshes” or deliberately wrong answers in GQ.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8873202#post8873202
What do you dudes think?
1. Guests can not start threads in the PIT.
Not sure if this is really necessary. Guests who start “inappropriate” pit threads are usually ripped apart pretty quickly (and thoroughly) by the membership at large.
2. No more “whooshes” or deliberately wrong answers in GQ.
I find myself agreeing with you here: whooshes and drive-by bullshit answers are distracting and don’t really contribute anything useful to GQ. Does every forum *have *to be turned into a clone of MPSIMS?
I think both proposed rules solve nonexistent, or at most trivial, problems.
1.
Gotta agree with Uvula Donor.
I enjoy watching guests get torn apart, but no more so than members.
It’s not like all guests get lured into the pit so the jackals can feast on their young tender flesh. It’s the ones with an attitude, that has nothing to do with them being new, that get into the heated conversations.
On a more practical note, the whole point of a guest membership is so guests can decide if they like it here. Cutting out a couple large chunks of the board is gonna result in them crying “I didn’t know people here were so mean!” when they’re finally let loose on us, and us on them.
2.
I see no real harm in the rule as there’s plenty of other places to screw around on the boards. However IMHO it’s only the real subtle jokes that cause a problem. Sometimes screwing around in GQ has been really funny. I do think the same etiquette guidelines that apply to hijacking should be used because it almost is hijacking sometimes. That’d be common courtesy. i.e. don’t screw around when the OP’s question is still awaiting an actual answer.
I realize that people may be irritated by these things but I don’t think the answer lies in restricting guests to where they can go. We need to educate them better.
You shouldn’t make jokes in an informational area unless you also are ready to provide the answer directly afterwards. Like so:
Question.
Snappy witty nonresponse.
Response.
If you don’t have the correct answer save your wit for somewheres else.
Kind of like Hollywood Squares. Will you be providing us with pre-printed jokes for each thread? 
I disagree with the first. Let 'em have at it. What’s the harm?
As for the 2nd, I’d say that at least people should use smileys if their post isn’t serious. It’s really annoying to have to sift through everybody’s attemps at comedy to get to a real answer. Having smileys would alleviate a lot of the problem. I wouldn’t be totally opposed to an outright ban on whooshes or deliberately wrong answers, but I don’t think that the solution needs to be that drastic.
This is what I usually try to do if I have a joke answer. I realize that GQ is serious and all, but the temptation to be Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares is too great to resist. I don’t mind seeing funny answers in GQ at all; it makes it more fun. But not at least attempting to point the OP in the right direction when doing so isn’t a good thing, unless the OP’s question is a really, really good straight line.
What Uvula Donor said.
I am opposed to too many rules. The pit is annoying to me and I stay away from it. I can’t imagine why others can’t too, if they find it annoying. Sometimes joke responses are annoying, sometimes they are funny. It is a social board as much as anything. I say leave things alone, lest you drive people away by being over-regulated.
Since I’m a moderator in General Questions, I want to express my opinion of what I consider good behavior in that forum.
I don’t want too many rules. I’m against making a new, restrictive rule. Hell, sometimes the OP is such a good “straight line” that I have been known to respond with a less than helpful post. That kind of thing is gonna happen. I try to resist, and I hope others do. I know it’s pretty hard. As Khadji said, this is a social board. Hell, even Cecil would probably post one liners in GQ.
But where I draw the line is posting something that can be misconstrued. That’s what happened in your example. While I’m sure the poster didn’t mean for it to confuse, only posting in jest, it resulted in many people reading it the wrong way. And when a doctor, Qadgop, reads it the wrong way, in a thread which was designed to help someone understand a recent term, “Restless Leg Syndrome,” and posts that this is one reason he doesn’t post as much in GQ anymore, then it’s time to say enough!.
Think twice, post once!
samclem GQ moderator
I agree with samclem that we don’t need more rules. Mods can intervene when folks misbehave. If someone’s post is misleading, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate for the forum, let the mods deal with it on a case by case basis. The masses are pretty good at policing each other, too.
I also agree with Khadaji’s views on the various forums. I’ve been a member for 8 years, and I don’t ever stray into the Pit, or any forums other than GQ and ATMB. I suspect I’m not the only member with that preference. I do think that too many people feel the need to practice their standup routines with lukewarm one liners in GQ. While I’m sure some folks believe that this fosters an atmosphere of collegiality, I think it dilutes the value of the GQ forum. The percentage of posts in GQ that don’t address the OP is much higher than it ought to be.
I loved your work in Bye Bye Birdie. 
Yeah, GQ is not MPSIMS but in the midst of serious sometimes humor works. OTOH, it is clear when it isn’t appropriate or derails a really serious thread and leaves people dismayed ( QtM, for example ).
I cannot see a hard rule making that any better- it will alter the tones of the Forum in a fundamental way. Sometimes a wiseassed remark drives a thread in a new direction. No I don’t have a cite, but since this post is proof that I love a good yuk and a decent answer in the same post as much as the next schlub, I’ve seen some threads that go hightailing off in new directions and sometimes it is because of a smarmy post.
What were those wise words from Jedi Moderator Samclem Kenobi? " Think twice, post once ! "
Cartooniverse
Ah, but I was not saying don’t let them post there, I was asking for them not being able to start new threads, and only in those two forums. But I can see this isn’t all that popular.
But what I am hearing is that the majority (including Staff) think that my suggested GQ “rule” is a Good idea, but not as a hard and fast"rule"- maybe more or a guideline?
Maybe it can be added to the GQ sticky, as a Guideline? As opposed to a rule?
And I got no problem with the “Hollywood Squares” format for GQ, after all, some question scream for a one liner. If you whip out that bit of snappy repartee, but follow it with a solid answer, that is a winner, as far as I am concerned
Compromise?
I think it’s up to them. Newbies have to follow the same rules as anyone else. If they are able to follow the rules of the pit or GD, let them do what they want within the rules. If they can’t follow the rules, chuck em out.
Look at it this way. Guest status gives someone a trial period, to see if he and the Dope are right for each other. Their posting style should be tested in the free period, to see if they are suitable members. Any potential problems with someone’s posting style should be seen during their guest membership.
Oh, but some whooshes are just too tempting to resist. Such as this or this.
I’d really hate it if I wasn’t allowed to post stuff like that. And at least a few people appreciate my sense of humour.
Rules are not needed. The only rule that we have is the simplest and easiest to follow and enforce: Don’t Be A Jerk.
Well, maybe not the SIMPLEST to follow…
In any event, whooshes in GQ are inevitable. What are you going to do to someone who insists on posting them, ban them? Get real.
If someone persists in making things difficult for people around here, they will be attended to. <doom music>
Those weren’t whooshes. You made it very clear that they were jokes. (And, I don’‘t think either was all that funny, but in the words of the Great Pappy O’Daniel "there’s no accountin’ for taste.")
Now, really I’d prefer no jokes either in GQ- it ain’t MSPIMS. But if you must, then do it Hollywood Squares style as TubaDiva suggested.
Why would I bring a ham sandwich to a banquet? Jokes have never been in short supply around here.
Because it’s a vegan banquet?
Because you don’t keep kosher?
It’s getting worse. Two new examples:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8883976&posted=1#post8883976
post 16-21
If Q.E.D. thinks it is for real, then we have problems, it isn’t an obvious joke.
Here:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8883983#post8883983
So, maybe we need that rule after all. Or at least a sticky asking dudes to not do this.