I have a lot of experience of forums generally, and generally they do end in tears if they are not properly moderated. You see, forums aren't clubs or societies. They aren't democracies.

I've seen examples of where moderation is either too strict (where mods abused their position), or too lax. In both cases you end up with resentment.

It would appear that James should have stopped the abuse of the forum long ago by setting down basic expectations on how business is to be conducted in the forum. Marco does a very good job of this, as he skilfully navigates a course between being dictatorial and being too lax; he does it well which is really what makes the #Aos forum so friendly.

forums such as this do attract a fair proportion of windbags, and it is the being separated by a screen that encourages people to behave badly because doing so face to face usually ends up with a smack in the chops

I am wondering if a paid-for model might be useful in moving forward. Just a thought.