The difference is with fewer Monks, the vitriol is far more obvious. Especially in PMD. Like when Sundial responded in the thread about supporting HTTPS. It's been several months since I've been here, and seeing the pointless vitriol in that thread -- it feels like it's time to write PM off as a lost cause.
There was the hack attack and joke of a response, gods encouraging a troll for close to a year, and the BrowserUK vs. the gods incident. All of these leave a bad taste in my mouth and are clear indicators that leadership at the top is the biggest issue.
Sundial's presence doesn't help any either, but the users responding so negatively to his posts, even undermining legitimate posts like HTTPS highlight the real problem. And to make it worse, regular Monks are involved in this vitriol, including some with higher levels of access than most have, which once again highlights the lack of leadership.
BrowserUK, I know you have more invested in this site than most, but at this point the only realistic path forward is to create a new site or join a better (modern features, community that is growing) site.