Your recent posts did inspire me to look you up and check out other questions you have asked or answered. I learn about PGC the more I do that and it helps me to be more effective and helpful when answering questions. No, this has nothing to do with your recent posts and it's just a response to what you refer to as "ranting." LOL, no worries I don't consider it ranting and only see it as a concern.
I have already encountered issues similar to what you describe. Most disturbing, I encountered a very hostile user who thought I was a PGC staff member at first. He didn't like my response and proceeded to go in and down vote me on every one of my questions. None of the questions had anything to do with his question. He has since been down voted so much that he is now locked out of the voting, thank the stars. I've also encountered a certain moderator on here that is very strict about the "useless chatter." At first, I got pissed but now I'm just annoyed with this person. It's how the person answers that bothers me. Anyway, I've learned to just ignore as much as possible.
Attempts to help out here have been positive for the most part. But, I've learned not to get irritated with questions and stay neutral in my responses. Some of the questions do make me wonder if they are "farming" points. It's not for me to decide that, so, I just answer the question if I can and if not I just let someone else deal with it.
Actually commenting on this old thread taught me 2 things already: 1. It doesn't cause the thread to bump all the way to the top, thankfully. I suspect answering would have done that. 2. I didn't think you would see my comment and respond and now realize that people do find comments on older threads. I found that update link by my screen name so now I know.
Sorry for the long comment but just letting you know my thoughts. Take care.