Why the hell is a punishment thread 20 pages long? Even if productive conversations are happening this isn't the right place for it. Also if things "getting out of hand" is an issue then don't allow comments to begin with, otherwise you're encouraging it to happen. When the judge issues a punishment in court they don't allow everyone to pipe up and chat about it afterwards. Again, make some sort of "Daily Talk" thread under the general section and moderate THAT instead.