These tendencies might be not severe, or mixed, or case-dependent, but I wanted to pose a thesis and see what you think: Spectrum promotes shallow kneejerk reactions in the style of a public stoning or vote by shouting (to give 'negative' examples, one could also imagine 'positive' ones). The vibe it gives off, the kind of conduct it promotes, can detract from a more civilized conduct that I can only say by feeling the old forum kinda promoted through its style. The old forum conveyed and instilled the fascination for this project while Spectrum introduces its chatroom vibe to the forum section and feels more like a combination of Twitter and Reddit. Having few subsections with internal tagging further promotes volatility of content. (Inflation of mass promotes deflation of class.) The feel of the old forums was more towards seeking answers, getting help, and since it was integrated into the website system and style, you always felt you were right there at the homebase, on the website. The feel of Spectrum is more towards mass emoting and communication for entertainment purposes. And this is combined with a nonexistent ignore feature, which doesn't help. The old forum had a rule that you are not to try and get a rise out of someone, as it was worded. Spectrum on the other hand seems to celebrate that and motivates people to keep thinking about what kinds of reactions they could invoke with their writings, and responders are motivated to not put their thoughts into words, but icons. You get less "I disagree because" and more "BOOOO!". The old forums didn't even allow you to signal disagreement unless you put it into words. That was crucially valuable. I have written down some thoughts and ideas about the bigger topic of social dynamics and their management, but I haven't found the motivation to finalize them yet. It seems CIG doesn't have a sociology expert in their midst, and that's not good when building public communication structures. This game project should always seek to pioneer, not degrade.