My own two cents on the topic:
1) I like PolDisc. I like posting technical explainers, when I have the time and energy to do so. I like ****posting, when an especially absurd topic pops up.
2) I think that PolDisc's reputation as an unmatched hive of scum and villainy is grossly overstated. Goob's doomsday thread was the last topic that really oozed out of the forum in any significant way, because it was such an over-the-top thread that it would have been right at home being archived in the Classics section. (The recent incident that sparked this discussion was primarily a moderation issue that would have--and should have--exploded, regardless of the forum in which it occurred.) Most of us get along quite well in there and generally give a lot of benefit of the doubt to new faces popping in.
And because I'm working too damn much overtime, which pays time-and-a-half:
3) Art is political. I don't do a lot of FRED'ing anymore, but my fiction writing has improved dramatically, since I started making an effort to be more conscious of the politics in the subtext. I think there is a potential benefit to having a place for campaign/mission authors to discuss and refine their personal politics, as it can lead to them writing more thoughtful and compelling works.
Does the value outweigh the costs? I leave that as an exercise for the reader to decide, but I do think that there is value to keeping PolDisc around.
