to me, it's still the same. it's awesome. i have found the saying "don't throw out the baby with the bathwater" to have more meaning everyday.
no one's perfect, heck we all have faults we rarely improve upon, i've met lot's of nice people and it's still the best board out there.
it's funny minimoo38 wrote this as i got all worked up for about 2.7 seconds from a PM she gave me once and it helped sharpen my wit a little bit, spawn the karma transparency, and ultimately get karma points from mininmoo38. i'm thinking that's a pretty good full circle.
i really don't even mind the spats. it lets everyone see how real differences are overcome to make new friends, agree to disagree, reflect etc.
i guess the only issue i have with the original post was why is hard core exempt from bashing? see, a clean double entendre, well maybe a triple.