Automod existed. Wasn't given the name Clarice until it became BreloomBot. Reborn was still VERY sensitive lmao. I remember getting kicked and muted for calling mods communists in a back channel. I remember the whole Mael/Autumn fiasco. Reborn was and still is very much a hugbox, but as I'be seen over the years is that a lot of the members could use that kind of environment.
You're dead-on with the server/forum thing. The forum always seemed like it was secondary to the server, but the opposite is definitely true nowadays.
Just from my sitting back and watching the way people talk and interact around here, a lot of it seems very performative. You only gotta wait until people are in a place not directly tied to this place to see that. I feel like that comes from forum size. You've got a larger amount of people seeing the things you do and say. You want to be perceived favorably if you plan on sticking around, ya know?
I roast the auth a lot. Like. A lot. But their role as the years have gone by has become less "Member of the community that can mute/kick the occasional troll / Run the lines for the league" and much more "Babysit the server/forum for as long as you can tolerate then swap out", which is a shame because more often than not the Auth had some of the best personalities (there were and are a few exceptions).
Personally, I feel like the biggest change along with the size of the forum has been the average age. Back in the day, we were all in our mid-late teens/early 20s. Much closer in age, easier to relate to one another, makes for a decently mature place if the vibe is right and it was. The larger the place has become, the closer the average age has gone towards Pokemon's intended audience's age. Maturity level goes down, meaning you've gotta handle the community differently.
It is what it was, ya know? Old Reborn was good, it was also shitty in some ways. New Reborn is probably just as good for these newer members as Old Reborn was for us. This place ain't aimed at those of us that came here for the League, or just liked the community as it was back then. S'bout time we sat on the porch and chilled with our place as the older folks. Maybe make things more interesting for us here and there, but otherwise keep on the porch.