tbf even at it's worst the tone here ain't ever approached 4chan, YT comment section, etc toxicity
more like familial squabbling, with the mixture of love, bitterness, pettiness, etc that implies
granted I wasn't here for the kpunk era or HMLT (came in shortly after his final departure) but even from my understanding of those days
I think I said elsewhere in some older thread, it all summed to matter much more 10 years ago
that was the infancy days of social media, YT, etc, the transition from blogs ("web 2.0") to social media
internet arguing has gotten both much more and far less serious in the last decade. the naivety is gone. almost everyone is fluent in internet discourse.
(this btw is where - unlike real life - I would agree you guys - luke, shiels, etc - about authenticity/irony/sincerity)
I can't speak to the personal side of kpunk biz, but it's hard to imagine for example the zhao flame wars nowadays. who has the energy for it.