TSM FAQ

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'm a big fan of the TSMpedia, but no one seems to use it any more. The site's been around long enough that a thread for commonly asked questions about the site's history is probably warranted.

 

There are also quite a few people floating around that haven't been here that long. If this works right, it would be a great thread for learning the TSM style.

 

I'm not sure what will end up here. How was so and so banned? What the hell is a frog ending? Why does the Pit hate everyone so much and why do we care? How the hell did Czech end up running the board? Stuff of that nature, I suppose.

 

Maybe we don't need this, but it can't hurt to try.

[Dandy 0]

As TSM OMbudsguythathasthepowertoupdatetheTSMWiki, I do not disagree with this threa, but I will make necessary updates to the main page of TSMWiki that need to be made.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

What happened to Carnival?

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Could someone explain and how and when the Pit was started? How did it develop its conservative tilt?

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

What the hell are `larvae`and how does one get put in this category?

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

What the hell are `larvae`and how does one get put in this category?

As I understand it, larvae are new posters. Once they have been here a sufficient amount of time (and made enough posts to adequately determine if they can contribute) they are moved to members. That's the basic answer. Perhaps a mod can better quantify what the expectations are.

[BUTT 0]

Could someone explain and how and when the Pit was started? How did it develop its conservative tilt?

If I remember correctly The Pit was created as a response to the first banning of MikeSC in May 2005. It was originally called J*Wing as it was created by Jingus, who wasn't necessarily looking to create a conservative board, just one where posters could express their views without fear of being punished. The banning of Mike galvanized many of TSM's conservatives, who saw Mike's banning as proof of a liberal bias on the part of the TSM staff and took to the new board after Mike began posting there, including Marney, who had left TSM the previous summer after a blowup with TSM admin Josh. On the other hand, only a few of TSM's more prominent liberals joined the board, thus creating the ideological imbalance which persists to this day.

 

I defer to any of those more well-versed in Pit matters on any of these points.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

What's the biggest thread in board history? Who started it?

[BUTT 0]

What the hell are `larvae`and how does one get put in this category?

As I understand it, larvae are new posters. Once they have been here a sufficient amount of time (and made enough posts to adequately determine if they can contribute) they are moved to members. That's the basic answer. Perhaps a mod can better quantify what the expectations are.

It's a mechanism put in to ensure that new members can't start topics without posting a certain number of times. I don't think they're allowed to edit their posts, either.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I'm a big fan of the TSMpedia, but no one seems to use it any more. The site's been around long enough that a thread for commonly asked questions about the site's history is probably warranted.

 

There are also quite a few people floating around that haven't been here that long. If this works right, it would be a great thread for learning the TSM style.

 

I'm not sure what will end up here. How was so and so banned? What the hell is a frog ending? Why does the Pit hate everyone so much and why do we care? How the hell did Czech end up running the board? Stuff of that nature, I suppose.

 

Maybe we don't need this, but it can't hurt to try.

 

I can answer this for those who are curious. The Danny Maff Clique has always said "If we ran TSM we'd" in a hypothetical manner, I decided why not do it for real and approached Mike the admin about buying Mole's share of TSM. Mike the admin agreed because Mole is a dead beat who hadn't paid his share in awhile.

 

DannyW or EpicFailOrange ponied up the required cash with contributions from others including myself and we became the bosses.

[Guest Czecherbear]

What the hell are `larvae`and how does one get put in this category?

They're new posters with limited boarding privileges. They're promoted once they hit 25 (or 35) posts. I don't know how to assign new registrants to Larvae, so I just send them straight to Members and then I get yelled at.

 

 

How the hell did Czech end up running the board?

I don't run the board, CWM and Danny Williams do. I just tinker with the control panel more than most because I am a tinkerer.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Do you guys have to pay a monthly fee for the board? How much is it?

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

I think that will stay a mystery.

[bob_barron 0]

Could someone explain and how and when the Pit was started? How did it develop its conservative tilt?

If I remember correctly The Pit was created as a response to the first banning of MikeSC in May 2005. It was originally called J*Wing as it was created by Jingus, who wasn't necessarily looking to create a conservative board, just one where posters could express their views without fear of being punished. The banning of Mike galvanized many of TSM's conservatives, who saw Mike's banning as proof of a liberal bias on the part of the TSM staff and took to the new board after Mike began posting there, including Marney, who had left TSM the previous summer after a blowup with TSM admin Josh. On the other hand, only a few of TSM's more prominent liberals joined the board, thus creating the ideological imbalance which persists to this day.

 

I defer to any of those more well-versed in Pit matters on any of these points.

 

Yea, this is about covers it. It was mainly that the CE posters felt they couldn't get a fair shake since Mike was banned for no good reason (arguing Montreal with HTQ) and Josh's response to the criticism was that everyone was stupid if they didn't agree with the banning. Slapnuts being made a mod didn't exactly disprove Josh's point.

 

I think that will stay a mystery.

 

Why is it some big secret?

[BUTT 0]

Because the minute Prince Paul offers Mike more than the 15 bucks a month the Maffers are ponying up, he gets the run of the board.

[bob_barron 0]

Paul buying the board just to delete it would be somewhat funny I have to admit

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

DannyW or EpicFailOrange ponied up the required cash with contributions from others including myself and we became the bosses.

Which reminds me... technically, I am still a part owner of this board. I should get to boss someone around.

[Guest]

Let's make you an ombusdman.

[Slayer 0]

It should be noted that, IIRC, The Pit I (the JWing version) wasn't quite as politics-heavy as the latter two incarnations, and that version boasted a fairly large shared membership with TSM. After the "check a very day" incident that brought down The Pit I, I don't remember how much time there was between that and when Josh brought up The Pit II, but that was enough time for most everyone save the political posters and a few others (the eventual Boardum crowd) to become disheartened and cease visiting that board

[Copper Feel 0]

"check a very day"

 

Who is this quote from, and what does it have to do with the Pit's downfall?

[Slayer 0]

Like the subsequent incarnations, The Pit I had a folder called "Hell" which was the section for all NSFW content, both visual and verbal. Admittedly, the whole NSFW aspect flew in the face of the Hosted Forums TOS, and some mod guy from HF, I believe his name was Chris, came in and gave us a warning about how we were violating the TOS and faced board deletion, and that he would be "check in our board a very day" to see if we were going to comply with them. We mocked him for being coming off like a complete idiot, although we did try to comply with the rules by making the folder private for members only. This was unsatisfactory for Chris and his "boss" (forgot his name, but he came off as very self-important... "I AM A SOFTWARE ENGINEER!") and they pulled the plug on the board, which in turn resulted in 1) Josh eventually making The Pit II and 2) some of us really harassing Chris and the software engineer for a good few weeks afterwards

[Nighthawk 0]

We mocked him for being coming off like a complete idiot

 

[Slayer 0]

Not sure what that means, but okay!

 

There were many other verbal faux pas on Chris' part, that's just the one that has stood the test of time

 

EDIT: Czech pointed out the error that I somehow missed twice.

[Guest Czecherbear]

It wasn't Chris, it was something else, which I forget. Justin or Brandon or something. Help me. That's the gist of the anecdote, though.

 

A question of my own, since 2002 is getting foggy for me: what were The Saga and The Establishment? Besides gay, of course. I've totally forgotten the bit.

[Copper Feel 0]

I wasn't around, but from reading the classic threads I've gathered that The Establishment was just a weekly list of posters who were established.

[BUTT 0]

It wasn't Chris, it was something else, which I forget. Justin or Brandon or something. Help me. That's the gist of the anecdote, though.

Brendan/Brandon/Branden Erskine.

[The Niggardly King 0]

We mocked him for being coming off like a complete idiot

 

We call this boarding karma.

[alfdogg 0]

What happened to Carnival?

He's still around. I've seen him in the college football threads recently.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

What can I do to be a better poster (besides not posting)? I seem to have missed out on everything that happened internally here from 2004 onwards. I literally just started reading the "View at Your Own Risk" boards this year. So what's trendy? I know everyone hates the WWE board, but I just started watching wrestling again this year and can't help but post there.

[BUTT 0]

I liked that one post where you said "rot in hell killing yourself forever." More turns of phrase like that and you'll be a Top 20 TSM Poster in no time.