I've been here a while but I have a question

[cbayer]

2. Meta was a forum on the site which has since been removed.

It was meant to contain all the discussions about the site itself. The term itself basically means "self-referential".

Members could go there to complain about or discuss jury decisions, hosting issues, MIRT decisions, behavior of individual members, group dynamics, etc.

While it seemed like a good idea initially, as it would keep these kinds of issues out of other groups, it devolved rather rapidly.

What it turned into was a cesspool where members attacked each other either as individuals or as groups.

It became highly personal and the administration wisely decided to shut it down. When they did this, they also said that meta discussions would no longer be permitted on the site and instructed hosts to shut them down when they popped up in other fora or groups.