On this issue, the bigger-picture (as often) seems to be a recurring conflict between 'gameplayers' and 'roleplayers' (or 'non-gameplayers').
Honestly, this is not conducive to embettering the region, and should be tackled head-on.
Why is there some mistrust?
Well Guy, condescending sentiments such as this...
1. The evil, undemocratic, self-interesed, elitist GPers in this thread have (correctly) pointed out that in general, regulating IRC channels has been a no-go in virtually every region.
...don't help ease those tensions.
As for this specific issue? It seems like a few of my fellow RPers didn't like the idea of a gameplayer like Dyr, a person who has gone on record saying he will never engage in RP, OP'ing the region's nominal RP-centric IRC channel.
To some of us? It was the principal of the matter. You wouldn't have a RPer moderate a gameplay channel or subforum. So why was the inverse ok?
To others? It seemed like deliberate attempt by certain gameplay-centric posters to claw away whatever space RPers managed to carve out for themselves. Whether that's accurate or not? It's irrelevant. It's how some people feel. The gameplay section of this community should have gone "it's terrible that some RPers feel that way, how can we help to make things better?" rather then just dismiss the concern outright. Taijitu gameplayers did that the latter here, and it makes RPers feel like their concerns aren't being taken seriously.
What would people like to see change in the region? Ask yourself that, don't answer me.
Well Guy, I'm going to answer you.
I would like to see more trust, more mutual respect, between the various niches here. Gameplayers and role players are two prominent examples, but there are smaller, overlapping groups. And there seems to be a lot of tension between those divides. Made worse by the fact that these lines aren't so clear cut.
So how do we achieve this mutual respect? This trust? Well a lot of that is self-evident. Let's take you and I, Guy. You're a GPer and I'm a RPer. Beyond that though? We also fall into two other niches. You seem very pro-defender, and I'm of an independent mindset. Well a few days back we were discussing independentism on the main #taijitu channel and you described the independent ideology to that of a vulture. I don't think I need to go deeper here to explain why I may not have taken that in a positive way.
I bring that up because I think it's a perfect illustration of what's wrong here. Many of us just see each other as the personification of a label or ideology. You didn't see me as a person explaining how I feel about the raider vs defender dynamic, Guy. You saw me as a thing representing an ideology you disagreed with, and that made it ok in your mind to treat me rudely.
We're all guilty of it to some extent. That person is a GPer. Or a RPer. Or he's just an advocate for direct democracy. Or a strong central regional government. Or a social democrat. Or a conservative. Or a libertarian. Or a socialist. And that's a problem. When someone isn't seen as a person, just a personification of a label, it's easier to brush their concerns aside. Or dismiss their point of view. Or just treat them poorly in general.
So that's what I think we need to do here. Realise that everyone is someone. Not just a label. And if we start thinking of each other as people who are greater then the niches or ideologies we subscribe to? We just might start treating each other as people too.