Since we are getting (and rightly so) a lot of the “member-pitting” thread closed down now-a-days- why not just get rid of this?
It has always been a bad idea. It breeds ill wishes and grudges. It has caused more than one good member here to get banned.
Let’s go back to pitting Bill Gates, your landlord, and GWB, OK? 
“A lot”? I count two “member-pitting threads” that have been locked recently. Two isn’t a lot. Also, one was locked because it drifted off-topic into jokes, and one was locked because it involved flaming a banned poster. In other words, neither was locked because it was a “member-pitting” thread per se.
I’m not trying to come out in favour of gratuitous insults or anything, I’m just saying you seem to be starting from a false premise.
I think it serves a valuable purpose. If someone says something offensive in an MPSIMS or acts like an ignorant moron in Great Debates, it is useful to have a place to discuss that without hijacking the original thread. Telling someone you think they’re acting like an asshole is part of social interaction – I’d hate it if this wonderful message board got sanitized into enforced niceness.
I flamed my member in the Pit once. I don’t recommend it.
I thought the primary reason this forum exists is to take the member-against-member flaming out of the forums.
A little penicillin will clear that right up.
If we can’t flame other members here, will that make the :wally smiley officially banned in all SDMB forums?
Hell…if members can’t be flamed…I’d never make any lists.
Well, I disagree. It serves no “useful purpose”. Really, what good does it do to call another member an asshole?
Indeed, one purpose of this forum is for “member vs member” flaming. But nigh every othe rboard i post on has some equivilant of this- and none allow “member vs member” flaming. They have it for ragings against the machine, life, and the Phone company.
In fact, few of the threads here are “member vs member” flaming. Most are of that type. Two of them were recently locked- while that isn’t a high % of ALL the threads here, it is a very high % of the “member vs member” PITings.
And, the few “member vs member” flaming threads seem only to generate hard feelings and intensify grudges. Maybe if you didn’t “take it to the PIT”, you’d both forget about it and maybe even come to respect one another. But not after a severe PITing.
Seriously though.
Members do get pissed at each other. That’s life. A place is needed where people can vent. Better here than in the other forums.
Besides…the flames are often the best reading on the boards.
Bwahahahaha
Really god one.
Oops. That should be good one.
It’s obvious you don’t know DTC.
There have been a few occasions where a member, properly Pitted, changed their attitude and behavior and became better board members. And, if that doesn’t happen, then at least we get new and creative compound nouns, along with some innovative adjective strings to use at later dates.
Your point has been made before. And there are really valid arguments in its favor, btw, DrDeth.
In a very overworked analogy, the Pit is an annex, the parking lot/lawn outside this particular establishment. We don’t encourage people getting all het up, whether over an issue or with one another, but hey, it happens. So we’re resigned to it…within limits. It’s still our property, so no swinging tire irons, molotov cocktails, etc.
Some pretty inflammatory issues and differences have ended up in very decent, illuminating discussions. They’ve started out with fire in the eye and spittle on the chin but settled into genuinely useful exchanges.
So…personality conflicts? Gonna have those too, though anybody who starts that game better be prepared for unintended consequences–and opinions. But even those have sometimes ended in suprising common ground.
It’s messy but it provides a venue for clearing the air in other fora. Better that than frustrated sniping that poisons other discussions.
How about we just stop the handful of posters who are dragging their rage at GD opponents into the Pit once a week?
GD is full of idiots espousing stupid stuff… we get it. We also get you’re not in charge of your emotions, you infantile whiners.
No, I’m not going to post links or cites or name names.
Rats.
Puts his tire irons and molotov cocktails away.
Geez…I never get to have any fun.
Fun?
Reminds me of a joke:
A guy sits down at a bar and orders a martini. He says to the guy next to him, “After a couple of these, my dick really starts to burn - how about you?” The other guy says, “I don’t know, I never tried to light it.”
The Pit is the best part of this board! Maybe it’s just me, but reading pit threads always cracks me up. I love the personal flames the best as long as they don’t get too personal. (although sometimes that’s fun too!) It’s great to see people rip the hell out of each other in one thread and then joke around in the next. Maybe it’s just the type of people I hang out with, but I think the best type of friendships are when you can tell your buddy “fuck off and die” and he responds “kiss my ass” and then you go out together for beers or something. It makes life a lot more interesting.
Oh, and, I’ve never flamed and probably never will flame anyone on these boards in complete seriousness. So fuck off, bitches.