I'm trying to imagine what the atmosphere was like then here in 2014 and few years after that. Was there so much drama or no sparks as encouragement that made you leave? If you don't mind, I would like your response on this.
I occasionally visited the forum during 2014 as a guest and I was not interested in anything except to learn more about Bitcoin, although I must admit that I was also interested in some altcoins and of course then very popular faucets. I registered in 2015, and at least as far as I remember, there was a very relaxed mood then, because Bitcoin was cheap (between $200 - $250), and some signature campaigns were literally run by bots - there was so much spam that it was immeasurable in comparison from today.
In 2017 when I came in, I observed there was so much drama and in-house fights. The forum was often tensed. Those who had confrontations, fought like it were physical exchange of blows they had as one could feel it in the harsh words used. I couldn't help but wondered what was going on. Most times I was lost in the terminologies used and couldn't make out anything that was the reason for such fights. It's good to know that it's different now. The forum is friendlier this day.
There have always been conflicts on a personal level, maybe there are fewer of them today because some members left the forum, and others realized that it was a waste of time. The forum is definitely cleaner if you take into account spam or all those alt accounts that have been banned for various reasons, but there are still conflicts, just look at the Reputation board.
However, none of that is a reason that the OP or anyone else can't progress on the forum - time is of course still a key factor, but with merits we got another challenge that the members have to overcome, which is not easy, but far from an impossible mission, which many have already proven.