To me, forums are living breathing things which can easily be smothered by a nit picking overbearing moderator. That is not a problem with our current mod or our previous mod Wayne. I have been the victim of a lousy moderator, they ain't one of them.
Another thing that can smother forums is when people are attacked or see others attacked or challenged on every single post, even when posting the most innocuous thing intended only to provide helpful information to others. Over time, many people become afraid to post or just get tired of arguing and defending when every statement is needlessly challenged. That to will kill forum participation. As someone else pointed out, just block them or ignore them, don't reward them with the attention they seek, don't feed the troll.
bradw