I once thought the moderation excellent, now it is good. What I do not understand is that mods recognise out-of-rules posts/threads, yet allow them to grow (sometimes participating in as antagonistic manner) and then are surprised by the resentment when they are closed. You once said that the best way forward was to kill off the out-of-rules threads immediately and I think that is spot on. This bollocks about PMs, is exactly that, why hide the questions? If a thread is on-topic, as ysterday's was, why close it simply because someone (you and a few others) believe it going nowhere; isn't that judgment a little elitist? Simply ignore it, use a filter or fall asleep.
Opening this thread was canny, as it is this occasional discussion that will maintain the quality of the board; they are, after all, simply views from anonymous posters.