Assuming these are free message boards, I’d be intrigued in knowing about them. It’s because I can’t find another board like this that I tend to get overly involved here, and wind up apparently pissing a bunch of people off.
Thanksgiving is always good Lynn. 
Polerius, while I’ve not seen any of those sites either, I’ll not deny they may exist. (A place more obscure than SD. Who knew?) But if they do then I’d suspect they lose quite a few who want a venue to have some fun calling each other names as well and spend a fair amount of mod effort restraining poster behavior. It is, I suspect, easier to create a space for internet atypical forums by also providing the space for more normal internet posting and allowing mods the ability to tell posters to just take it to another part of the board rather than to not express themselves more colorfully.
Again, my point is just to remember that the Pit is not abnormal for internet MBs; it is normal for internet MB, albeit occasionally with a higher quality of invective. It is the rest of the SDMB that is abnormal.
I think there is definitely a real-world analogy, and it is stepping outside to fight or argue. How many times have you heard, “take it outside” when people get feisty or obnoxious at a party or in a bar?
The analogy of running off into a different room to call each other names and then returning to the dining room to pretend it never happened isn’t accurate. I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of being civil when you encounter someone you dislike in a polite gathering. So it is here.
Are you talking about a Peterson or Ardor pipe with a nice Scottish blend tobacco, or a glass pipe with a different kind of blend? 
Bingo.
Absolutely. How many Pit threads have you seen where the first response says something like, “Meh. Inadequate creativity, insufficient invective. I give this pitting a two”?
I for one am totally confused as to how my boat fits into this.
Some message boards don’t take themselves so seriously that the members get upset over what another person posted. Amazing, isn’t it?
What about troll socks?
The implication of “having the same level of discourse” is that insults are disallowed. Having people flame you during a serious discussion is not the same level of discourse we enjoy here.
The closest I’ve found is the “Hitler’s Brain” forum at Cracked.com, but it involves severe restrictions on what can be discussed, and a less transparent moderating style I personally do not like.
I have a Stanwell pipe and an English Lakeland blend. Can I still participate?
Again, they may exist but I’ve not seen them. (Which does not mean much as I don’t wander too much.) Snark is the norm. Basically most of what I’ve seen seem more like weak Pit threads. If you’ve found these snark-free MBs that have high levels of discourse, more power to you. And don’t post their names as us riff raff coming over would be sure to ruin them!