I can't see any great change. It waxes and wanes, and of course when the Mudcat vanishes for a couple of days most of the thread vanish out of sight.

AS for the !Mudcat being 'nastier', I just don't think it's true. Nastiness flares up every now and then, and we all need to keep an eye on what we write when we're engaged in a discussion about something where we have strong feelings. But by internet standards it's generally a pretty even tempered place. And of course the music threads aren't immune from toxicity at times.

Too much decorum can be as bad in its way at times.