Mods Help, you might never read this but I have some time to kill.
I hope you come back eventually. I recognize a lot of your issues with The Bore. Cynicism is the WOAT perspective to approach discussion from. It plagues online conversations in general, and is practically suffocating on this forum at times. The lack of self-awareness here can be funny to watch. This forum needed a safe space to discuss a comedy special without serious criticism. Neogaf birthed The Bore, so the two sites will never be dramatically different. Ideologically, both communities are extremely similar with this place being slightly more apathetic. The ever-churning vitriol in the Neogaf megathread makes no sense to me. What exactly is there to hate so much? The discourse lowkey gives me Stormfront vibes. I admit that I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time of Gaf lately and when I do go there I tend to stick to Gaf-Hop, but the “left-wing extremists” decried here tend to be benign at worst and occasionally have the correct (read: similar to my own) view on a given topic. If you do return, I think you’d enjoy your time here a lot more if you avoid that thread. I honestly do believe this community is mostly made up of good people.
I’ve considered leaving the Bore for some of the reasons you listed, but I’m trying to be more conscious of when I avoid spaces with conflicting opinions. In recent months, you (assuming I’m correct about Mods Help’s identity) expressed disappointment in liberals for not engaging enough with people who disagree with them. I’m glad you talked about that. The polarization is only going to get worse if people’s opinions aren’t challenged. It requires everyone to confront people they disagree with on a regular basis. That being said, you’re under no obligation to participate in an environment you find especially taxing on your mental or emotional well being. Your intentions are pure and you haven’t harmed anyone. Keep doing you!