There is a differece between posting under the same name, yours or otherwise, and posting under guest alone. I suspect the mods always know who you are, if you are registered (or, through your IP. At a minimum, posting under guest alone does a disservive to other posters in the discussion. IMO, it does nothing to promote good, reasoned, and respectful discussion - and can contribute to discourse, especially where enforcement is minimal. It is complex for the mudcat "posting community" establish "community values" for respectful posting under such a situation (imo). I suspect it could be just another reason for declining participation.

So, one can't look into the rule makers head
for understanding, personally, I can't see the reason nor logic behind the change in the rules. Possibly it is because of some type of "free range", libertarian philosophy? Or, it could be merely to reduce the pressure of intervention-enforcement? Possibly the person (s) in decision making roles could share the reasoning? But, that would be their call.

"When you rely on a gentleman's agreement, the liklihood is that someone will not be a gentleman" Anon quote (possibly, also an anon guest).

"Every time you rely on a gentleman's agreement, someone will not be a gentleman". Anon