Most of us like the debate element - sometimes agreeing with the people that we're disagreeing with in another thread - but it's when it gets personal that it all disintegrates.
There are some people who will make a joke out of anything but when you're new to the forum it's hard to see whether it's a joke or an insult. So often new members get offended or insulted by comments made to them and they take it personally then get defensive and sometimes insulting.
When I joined I had a couple of run ins with a few people because I didn't 'get' them - unfortunately now I do and often dream back to those halcyon days when I was unsullied by this forum.
