The other more basic thing is most of the mods just have no real lives outside that (or any) chat room. It becomes the sole "meaningful" thing in their lives. And if they become a mod, they have some "power" ... for the only time in their lives. It's a short trip to becoming an insecure, threatened by every different opinion or even polite question or challenge "chat room nazi" ... frantically defending your "power" against any perceived threat or challenge. It's sad and pathetic, but also irritating. And it damages the room and drives off users. So it's an overabundance ... in CC's case, a huge overabundance, of rules without reason ... and bad, pathetic mods. We are lucky that MOST of the mods here are more reasonable (the ones in the BBC room are an exception, they are REAL racists and suck) ... and most lucky to have a site owner who just has common sense, is fair, and reasonable.