OK, I have sorted through this as best I can. I have no doubt I've missed some specifics and/or history but I think I have the gist.
First off, Hoopz is right. I have been an absentee mod to a large extent for a while. The last 12 months haven't been a great year for me. Everyone's got their own things to deal with so I won't bore you with mine, but from a priority perspective, moderating the forum hasn't been terribly high on my list.
That means the burden has fallen heavily on the most active mods, namely Delusional29, HaRuMaN, and PL1. There are two parts of moderating. The first is easy enough, if tedious - spammers. If not for the efforts of these three we'd be drowning in SPAM, so thank you guys for stepping up.
The other part is a lot harder - keeping the rules enforced without over-moderating. I hate having rules. Every rule in place goes just a little more towards stifling a free and open exchange of ideas and information. However, every single rule is there because someone was a jackass and did something illegal or obnoxious that put this site in jeopardy. So, we have rules.
The rules are as general as I could make them and still address the need, and enforcing them is always a judgement call. Since I wasn't here making those calls, PL1 was trying to do so. This is where I put PL1 in the bad position of having to try to read my mind and try to do things my way. It can't be done. I'm frequently inconsistent based on the individual situation. This has always been my house with my personal touch on how things are administered, and it wasn't fair of me to abandon that and expect anyone else to step in. The fault for any friction here is mine.
I've asked PL1 to ease back from rule enforcement but to continue to help moderate spammers and technical forum issues. In turn, I will try to step back up and keep my house in order.
This thread will stay open for anyone who has something they want to say, as long as it's kept civil please. Suggestions and criticism of me and the forum are welcomed.