I can't say that I visit the flame pit often, because firstly I think of you guys as my online family, and the things people say to me affect me quite a bit. Thus, I don't really feel the need to be insulted, nor do I wish to insult or demean anyone else here. I know that in my sociolinguistics class we looked at how in general guys bonded more through challenging each other and tossing back and forth insults, whereas girls would bond through affirming and sympathizing with each other. *shrugs* For me, I'll only tease the people I know very well because they know when I'm not being serious.

Secondly, all the conversational random spam and off-topic chatter is accomplished a just as well by visiting #gotwoot on irc.

I can't say that I've really noticed a big difference in the amount of flaming that goes on in the forum since the inauguration of the flame pit. If anything, a decrease in flaming likely correlates to a decrease in forum activity in general here. However, it gets a fair amount of posts and activity, so if you're measuring by sheer statistics then you might say that it was successful.