A few diaries are discussing "new missions" for the site. That's an interesting discussion.
My point is a stupid and boring one. It's about Hrs. I made it years ago but see that the HR/gangs stuff is being discussed again. For example, here's one thought:
Even one small change, demanding that people be REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN CALMLY AND RATIONALLY THEIR HR'S (or get a timeout themselves,) could greatly control the mob mentality here and inject a reasoned discourse. Kos' failure to do so and instead allow a libertarian 'free for all' to exist with the clearest guideline being 'don't be a dick' is ripe for mob abuse. So the mob does abuse and rule the discussions.
I would go the other way, ban all discussions of ratings. Can you imagine the waste of time picking over every HR and the endless bickering that would ensue under that proposal?
I'd go the other way - let the gangs fight silently through recs and HRs (and if there are complaints, use the channels for that off stage) while the rest of us just discuss the issue.
Think how much cleaner a discussion thread will be without all the silly bickering about ratings.
So that's my modest proposal, a ban on discussing specific ratings. Your moderation function would come through your ratings, not your comments. If you think someone is abusing the ratings, complain through the formal offstage channels. Then the discussion can be about the issues, not the ratings fight.
My 0.02.