I think it is fine the way it is, the mods seem fair to me, things are shut if they get out of hand. If people want in depth discussions on world issues there are other boards to have them on. While I am always content to debate serious issues seriously, there are very few places you can do that on the net without people stepping outside that once they feel they aren't getting heard enough and it really isn't worth the trouble it brings imho.

I find the majority of users here are fairly mature and sensible, a 'rant' forum would just encourage flamers and kids with nothing better to do than shout 'you suck' at other people.

I don't think you censor stuff, I think you control it to keep the board happy and I have no problem with that myself. Moderation is an art rather than a science imho. As for language if people cannot talk to others in a civilised way I can't see why they don't simply keep silent. It's about courtesy and I find these forums are about the most courteous I post on and long may it remain so.

In terms of tutorial links I don't think they do threaten the site, but that is just my opinion - I do use tutorials from other places and find it helpful for people to recommend them. But I still come back here and buy my points to get a quality product. There are some things not covered here and it is helpful to get them elsewhere. The database is a bit confusing as it is just a list with a load of random descriptions and it is hard to locate anything.

I don't think linking to specific things would ruin the site myself, as people know other sites are out there, it just saves time for people not to have to search through 10 things and 20 dead links if someone good says this one will work. This site is such a good one that a few external links won't hurt it imho, they will just make it easier for already helpful people to be more helpful.