Slapping brain to remember 3DC stuff, there was a lot of sycophant ooo's and ahhhh's there, too, but there were also gentle critiques. It was a smaller community, and more people were active in the gallery and forums simultaneously. You knew who could do better, and who was not going to improve... and both were accepted. One person might not be technically great, but had wonderful messages or emotion in their images. Another might be devoid of any feeling, but a great technician. Then there were those who were superb at both, but were so prickly it was better to say nothing.

They also had a lot of Mods and Admins who prowled the galleries, and would delete comments they deemed unacceptable.

Here, there are so many artists, you can't possibly know all of them, and you have no clue who you're talking to. It's very easy to wander unintentionally into a "situation". I've even managed to get snarled up making a nice comment. (Dude, I didn't want a best friend, I just liked your render.) ;)