One of the issues involved, I would dare to say, is the given 'culture' in any specific region. That is to say, a given region's domestic policy, as it were. Here in TNP we generally are way too tolerant in many aspects, and civility is the main deficiency.
Now, before I continue along this line, I feel compelled to admit I am just as guilty of a lack of civility at times as the worst here can be at times. And that probably uniquely qualifies me to speak on the issue of civility.
As HC notes, TNP is a voluminous region and as a feeder, it attracts a lot of people who consider themselves as 'power-players'. That means we have a lot of 'transients' who are here just to see how much power they can accumulate. This is also probably the reason why the 'politics of personal destruction' has become the order of the day, which in turn, leads to civility issues.
Civility issues become a problem when a region is too tolerant, which in turn can cause otherwise civil people to act in a totally uncivilized fashion of shear frustration when dealing with uncivil persons. It is essentially the same as being attacked with a pointy stick by thugs. It leaves one with only one option and that is to grab a pointy stick and have at it out of self preservation. But there is a better way.
Considering that 'culture' is under the purvey of the MoIIA (a position I currently occupy), there is no way for that ministry to enforce civility. That is up to the people in TNP to enforce in a self policing fashion. That also requires that those who have been in this region and on the forum the longest to have a duty to set the tone which is something I am often guilty of not doing probably more often than not.
What I can do as MoIIA is to create a 'cultural policy' of what should be encouraged and what should be discouraged and then ask that people voluntarily abide by this. I'm sure it would probably get laughed at but it will draw a clear line in distinguishing between those individuals who are civil and those who are deliberately uncivil with the intent of being non-constructive.
Also, civility and culture are at the root of a lot of problems governmentally - we have the choice of changing the Constitution and creating a growing body of laws or we can voluntarily work to change the culture. And changing the culture involves mainly discouraging flaming and piling on of anyone for any reason. That would also require a more strict enforcement of the TOS and forum rules as per disruptive and destructive behavior, intentional or not.
But if you take a look at regions that are very civil, you will find that they strictly enforce their rules, no ifs, ands or buts. To some, this may sound authoritarian and in some ways it is, but the culture in TNP needs to changed. We can either do it by example and failing that, by legal code.
