(i've not read any of the posts in this thread)
I think that its not a case of the rules going away, its just that the game is expanding, and there are lots of newcomers entering the forums who don't know the rules, and therefor break them easily, the rules are still there, they are just being broken more frequently, and the moderators are having to put up with rulebreaks more often just because there are so many people breakign them