Community of all kinds is very hard to maintain, including massive online ones like former GAF.
However, being involved in many communities, more ones IRL, things break down when people dont feel heard and respected.
No one is perfect, but as long as the aim is civility, community flourishes.
My issue is the constant call backs to older members and attitudes. I mean, move on. They have. And stop celebrating that they are gone. Just do your thing. That doesnt really build or rebuild, in this case, community. Get it out of your system. There are no perfect communities where you wont find annoying or irritating people. Online communities are not immune to this.
I am a member of both boards, and both scratch an itch for me. But even in the other board you have some members having unrealistic expectations after the migration. Posters still take swipes at former mods there. Like, how long are gonna stew about a message board?
Posters will annoy you, bother you, irritate you in every forum. Just like workplaces, families, and so on. Heck look at the infighting with Democrats in last election cycle. Community doesnt mean utopia. It requires tough and incomfortable conversation sometimes. Which is why I think locking meta threads is a bad idea, same with anonymous modding.