Our site culture is how it is from a lot of online fighting, and trying to counter brigading/trolls in the early days. Our moderation is pretty heavy-handed because of this, but they do let you appeal.

Usually if there's a rule, there's a specific event that caused it.

Moderating anything is literally gatekeeping, but I can see how to someone wandering in it looks like a lot of arbitrary stuff to tread carefully around.

But if you seem like you're coming here in good faith usually people aren't too impolite, although they might be because sometimes it's exhausting for us to hear something annoying for the millionth time that a newcomer is probably new to hearing.