board changes - yes or no?

[samuelvss]

I'm happy to keep the pit in the pit. Never been. Don't want to. Don't understand what it has to do with Traveller.

 

[Zparkz]

I would like to see that the pit get viewable by those who actually subscribe to that subforum. I am tired of seeing the pit threads listed in "New Posts" list cluttering the view.

 

[Spinward Scout]

If you log out of the board then log back in, the Pit threads disappear unless you log back into the Pit.

 

[Madarin Dude]

The pit is both good and evil. When it works the pit is actually one of the coolest forums here with people of varying political stripes exchanging views and in the process becoming more enlightened. People who go down there often remember the times when it is like that and hope for it. But as of late (before it was so too but there are brief periods of pitopia) it is a place with a lot of inflammatory rhetoric and finger pointing.

We can do without the pit. But when it works it is one of the few places where different viewpoints can be discussed openly.

 

[Hemdian]

I see the Pit as like a lightning conductor: while it has nothing to do with Traveller, without it some people would be much more tempted to stray off topic in the rest of CotI than they are now.

 

[Icosahedron]

Unfortunately, the Pit seems to be a source of infection that overspills into the rest of the board. People have stronger feelings on those topics and ill feelings generated there are carried over onto other threads - by members of all ranks. If those topics were simply banned altogether with a zero-tolerance policy, there might be less trouble.

Case in point, I'm playing in a Pocket Empires PBP game here, and it will probably close because two of the players have been permabanned thanks to arguments raised in the main threads that originated in the Pit.

Think about that. A game of Traveller - what we're all here for - closed thanks to hot air from the Pit.

Looking at the number of supporters it has, I can't see the Pit closing, but I think the board would be a better place if it had never been created.

 

[flykiller]

... the Pit seems to be a source of infection that overspills into the rest of the board.

the pit is not the source of anything, rather it is the people who can't distinguish between the pit and the rest of the board who are the source of problems.

I have been strongly in favor of keeping the pit, viewing it as a place to put certain discussions and the people who want to have them. a holding tank, if you will. and also, certain traveller discussions and games involve politics that really are legitimate game topics, but have a potential for trouble - the pit provides a place for these. but having watched the recent unpleasantness unfold, it occurs to me that the pit provides a place for certain people to spin up, and once spun up they seem to lose control and try to involve everyone else on the board whether they want to be involved or not. they see the whole rest of the board as more pit, and they just can't seem to help themselves. so, I'm changing my mind and calling (as if anyone will listen to me) for the pit to be removed. where the legitimate political topics will go I have no idea, and shutting down some legitimate discussion will be a great loss, but I think that will be less destructive than what has just happened.

 

[Jame]

another thread elsewhere is suggesting changes to the coti board. what say you?

At the moment I say No, mainly because I do not know what the changes would be.

 

[Rev Round]

Yes. Bring back the PIT please. No one got even a bruise from it. It did far more good than bad.
The arbitrary ban on history recent and further past is absurd. Politics is history (sigh!) and history IS politics. How far away is the past? Is a million years ago further away than five minutes ago? Is the politics of the 14th century further away than the history of 30 years ago?



Terra
Solomani Rim 1827
A867A69-F


The planet with no political history?

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Put me down for never bringing back The Pit. It simply brings nothing to Traveller.

 

[atpollard]

No one got even a bruise from it. It did far more good than bad.

It created emnity between individuals that spilled into the rest of COTI.
It spawned topics like this (and far worse) that dragged people who never enter the pit into the quagmire.
It may have prompted a Moderator to quit being a moderator.
It may have gotten several individuals permabanned (thus killing a PbP Traveller game).

In short, like alcohol, drugs and adultry, it is not something that is generally "harmless".
While I did not call for its closing, I will shed no tears for its loss.
It has done enough harm, thank you very much.

 

[far-trader]

It created enmity between individuals that spilled into the rest of COTI.

Shame on them then, not The Pit.

It spawned topics like this (and far worse) that dragged people who never enter the pit into the quagmire.

Again that is the fault of a few who for whatever reason couldn't keep it where it belonged.

It may have prompted a Moderator to quit being a moderator.

And again I can't see blaming The Pit for that. It was the posters arguing with the moderators that did it the way it looked to me.

It may have gotten several individuals permabanned (thus killing a PbP Traveller game).

And again, sad as it is, it was not The Pit at fault, but the posters who were banned. And didn't at least one of them factually if not literally beg, repeatedly, to be banned? How can you blame The Pit for the moderators simply doing as the user requested?

In short, like alcohol, drugs and adultry, it is not something that is generally "harmless".

No, in short, like alcohol, (skip drugs, and wth are you dragging adultery into it for?) it was something that many enjoyed in moderation (no pun intended) that was spoiled (again) by a few who couldn't or wouldn't.

Yes I will miss it but not so much that I'll grieve the loss. If it was Hunter's call that's all I need to know. But it would be nice to know that, you know...

As far as going to other political forums, I think those suggesting such have no idea, really, how different The Pit was to any other such out there, and how utterly pointless attempting to debate on them is. The Pit at it's worst was a beacon of sanity and reason compared to the rest on their best day.

 

[flykiller]

... (the pit) was something that many enjoyed in moderation ... that was spoiled ... by a few who couldn't or wouldn't.

and that's the point. those few got spun up in the pit, and then spoiled the rest of the board. they forced a response.

The Pit at it's worst was a beacon of sanity and reason compared to the rest on their best day.

then go ye forth and shine sanity and reason amongst the rest. but coti really should be devoted to traveller.

 

[Space Hamster]

Hi there,

Probably half my posts are from the pitt. All the topics I had seen in there were non-Traveller related. They were current politics. Like others have said there are plenty of political boards out there. If hard fealings between people in there are expressed out side of there, then you have a bad situation.

 

[Rev Round]

Hi there,

Probably half my posts are from the pitt. All the topics I had seen in there were non-Traveller related. They were current politics. Like others have said there are plenty of political boards out there. If hard fealings between people in there are expressed out side of there, then you have a bad situation.

No they have a bad situation and if they make it a bad situation for others then they got banned inside or outside the pit, where ever. And no they were not ALL current politics. When an argument was made successfully it was with reference to events passed. The mud slinging only ever made the mud slingers look silly.
AND I do really mean ONLY silly.

I think there is a hysterical reaction to the pit going on right now. It was ok. If a mod cant give it the time he/she shouldn't be doing it. That is only being fair to that person and not a value judgement. Some people have a home life to organise and blaming everything on the pit is a handy scapegoat for some others.

It was easy to wade through the nonsense and find the real info. A reference that is now sadly lost to me. I wish I had copied and pasted a whole load of it for my personal reference. Yes even the stuff that I didn't sit comfortable with!

P.S. Well said Far Trader. You said it better than me.

 

[Rev Round]

I made my vote after the removal of the pit.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I ventured into the pit, and tried to be light hearted, then got backhanded, and smote back in return. I used to spar tons and tons on other gaming BBSes. I'm threw trying to convince others of my correctness (however misguided they may be :smirk: :rofl.

I'm sorry to say I ventured into the pit quite a few times over the last few days it was up, and think I would prefer not to go back into another pit for fear of not being able to get out again.

Politics really polarizes folks. And it's unfortunate that Traveller enthusiasts succumbed to this temptation. The pit was the pits. I'm all pitted out from being pit against other pittikes. :wink:

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I'm sure the Pit will return again (it always does), but not yet.

 

[Easterner9504]

i ventured into the pit, and tried to be light hearted, then got backhanded, and smote back in return. I used to spar tons and tons on other gaming bbses. I'm threw trying to convince others of my correctness (however misguided they may be :smirk: :rofl.

I'm sorry to say i ventured into the pit quite a few times over the last few days it was up, and think i would prefer not to go back into another pit for fear of not being able to get out again.

Politics really polarizes folks. And it's unfortunate that traveller enthusiasts succumbed to this temptation. The pit was the pits. I'm all pitted out from being pit against other pittikes. :wink:

pit-y!!!!!!!!

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

get rid of it once and for all. We should argue about Traveller politics, not lame 21st century politics. 86 the pit for good!