If I refer to Avi as being not unlike Mike from The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, I am making a joke. If Avi or others are offended by it, they are free to contact me, and I will of course modify my tone. If I refuse to modify my tone, they are free to go to a mod. And there is where it rests, on any forum.
Mod's and Admin's tone set the forum. But it is in turn set by volume. And in that volume is ratio of trolls.
Here we currently have a good set-up. Volume is low enough that the mods and admins are in ample supply to deal with problems intuitively and intelligently. Troll ratio is low enough that they are not embittered.
For example, I was warned away from suicide jokes. I love suicide jokes, because I am often suicidal, and I deal with my problems with humor. But because there is just one of me, the mods and admins were able to warn me and address me head on with respect and ample communication. And I was able to accept that and do my best to avoid those topics in the future.
While I know a lot of you really don't like PWOT, I have no difficulty understanding why they do what they do.
Volume increased dramatically after they were tied to Cracked. Troll ratio also jumped up to an insane degree. The only thing that did not increase par for the course was the ration of mods and admins. And so you were left with a lot of mods and admins, not in communication with each other, dealing with trolls and increased volume head on. So of course embitterment happened, as well as rules that dealt with the problems wide-scale instead of on a personal level.
If we see that out volume is increasing dramatically, which it will at some point. We need to have in place a system of quickly introducing and training mods to deal with it. Most important is active communication.