I think part of this is pretty simple.
In a hostile post where hostile words are directed at a poster by name or “you”, mods are going to find that violates the
“Attack the Post and not the Poster rule”.
It is in the end the prime rule, especially in any forum I moderate but especially in GD and P&E where things are far more likely to get heated.
Remember that and everything will be easier for posters and Moderators.
Believe it or not, I don’t actually like giving out warnings, especially in threads already being watched as the OP is pinging troll alerts. In fact that was why I just went with a thread ban, I expected the thread to be closed or disappeared within a day.
And for the love of ice cream, of course I don’t mean in The Pit.