How far can a comment about the way the board is run, the mods, the forums or the ‘rules’ go before it is no longer appropriate for ATMB? Does it ever belong anywhere other than ATMB or the Pit?
Questions go here. Complaints go in the pit.
Let’s not forget praise and offers of fine chocolate. Those go in MPSIMS. 
Read the forum descriptions. I think they make it pretty clear.
ATMB – “For technical questions and concerns about the SDMB. This is also the place for practice posts.”
BBQ PIT – “This is the place for all complaints and other discussion regarding administration of the SDMB”
In practice, though (and in my opinion), we probably allow too much discussion in here that’s better suited to the Pit. Now, do questions ever belong anywhere else? Sure. Fer instance, if ya wanna survey of the admins/mods underwear preferences, IMHO’s probably the place. If ya wanna see if you can talk TVeblen into a spanking party, MPSIMS would be the best forum.
I understand about the other forums. (IMHO and MPSIMS etc)
This is what I want to know about. How far can a discussion go (and be anticipated when a thread is opened) before it needs to go in the pit?
But where do I pose the question “What kind of underwear does UncleBeer wear when he’s attending TVeblen’s spanking party?”
A few minor clarifications:
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Why the insane assumption there’d be anything remotely mundane, much less pointless, about any spanking party I throw?
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wring, he’s probably wear those godawful Spider Man drop-seat underoos again.
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Not quite, Silver Fire. Praise goes to the Pit, fine chocolates go to TubaDiva, Coldy and I divvy up the scotch, Euty gets the good beer and Uncle Pee gets the peach-kiwi wine coolers.
Nobody’s sent noodles yet, so Arnold’s SOL, know what I mean?
Veb
Uncle Pee… ::snicker:: Anyway, I’ll send some noodles to Arnold.
It seems to be a kind of a Catch-22. (I’m duly reading it for Reading Group)
If we want to have a rational discussion about the moderation of the board, then we should put it in the Pit. But the very fact that it is in the Pit means that people will think that it is a rant and not a rational discussion.
If someone tries to sneak a discussion into ATMB in the guise of a question, then a moderator will come along and say “question is answered” and lock the thread.
The above is not really a complaint. I guess I am saying that under the current rules there is no right place for discussion of the board itself.
See your point, Green Bean, truly do.
There’s a lot of gray area. What’s a straight-forward question about rules (ATMB) versus questions and discussion about administration of those rules (Pit)?
I may be interpreting your point entirely wrong, so feel free to correct my WAG, but is it something like, “why do discussions have to be pre-labeled as Pit material in the first place”?
My guess is that experience has shown that the labels are more apparent than real. Lord knows casual discussions on the most mundane things can morph into heated exchanges. Discussions take on their own life, and shifting threads as they evolve is pretty commonplace overall.
Just an observation, but honest questions–and posts–are obvious whether in the Pit or elsewhere. This is purely my individual reaction as a poster, but after a while I appreciated the bravery of placing those discussions in the Pit. It truly does throw issues into the toughest arena around. Sensible, intelligent posters are sensible and intelligent no matter where they post.
Discussing administrative issues in the Pit doesn’t label posters. But in an odd, rough-and-tumble way the venue invites posters, I dunno, first-hand into the issues that swirl around a place even as “hands off” as this is.
Don’t know if that made sense.
Veb
Yah, it made sense, and you did understand my point.
To say it another way, the way the Pit seems to be understood by most posters, posting a topic in the Pit will be seen as a rant/complaint/flame. Maybe is wasn’t supposed to be this way, but that is the way it appears to be now. Heck, look at all the posters who say “since this is the pit, $%#@!” or “Oh I never venture into the pit because I am a nice person.”
Anyway, my point has been gotten, I’m sure. And since this is ATMB, how do I make a smilie?
Those of you puzzled by UncleBeer’s new nickname can find it introduced in this thread (look for the excellent witticism by manhattan)
What have you done with UncleBeer?
This morning, as usual, my mailbox was devoid of any pasta offerings, and I walked away with a dejected step and a heavy heart. 
As far as the OP, it seems to have been quite adequately answered by my colleagues UncleBeer (snicker) and TVeblen.
Since you brought it up,
what IS the story on that thread?
I keep reading it and it looks like somebody resigned or stopped posting. I cant tell whether it was Eutichus55 or UncleBeer or you.
All seem to posting as normal. Is there a mod chage being announced or is it just an elaborate in-joke of some sort?
Ike was just pointing out that UncleBeer hadn’t posted for a couple days. There were comments about Euty as well, I believe relating to a short break he took from the boards not too long ago.