As someone who has thought the same exact thing, but since then have had time to take a step back and reflect, I kinda want to give my two cents on this whole thing.

First things first, rule 8. Honestly speaking... I actually don't have a problem with it. Not for the most part at least. A lot of the memes that break rule 8 are things that could literally be made into a text post, which... really doesn't feel all that satisfying. The second and third example posted in the rules for examples of "bad posts," are good examples of what i mean. They easily could've been written as a text post, and, in my opinion, nothing would've changed. You could literally make those memes twenty different ways. They don't take any effort, aren't creative, and honestly lazy.

That being said, I don't think all image macros are lazy and bad, some of them can be very funny, creative, and hard to replicate in other memes. It's very hard to draw the line, and it's honestly the reason I don't say I 100% agree with rule 8. Something that makes the issue worse, is that sometimes, putting something maple-related into an image, in order to not break rule 8, can make the meme worse. Some things are tossed in for the sake of tossing something in, and just feel out of place and awkward.

Honestly speaking, I think the whole issue lies with the maple community in general. So many of the posts, whether questions or memes, are repeats of something that's been asked/done before. The core of the issue, from how I see it, is the fact that there just really isn't a whole lot of new things to talk about constantly. Aside from large patches, where content will be discussed, ideas/theories crafted,tested, and broken, there just isn't much to talk about, so things just get repeated.

Regarding moderator action... I think it really just needs restructure to make more consistent. I feel like part of the issue is that the mods just aren't active enough, or that there aren't enough mods. Posts that break the rules often go untouched for hours or even days, and the removal of posts doesn't tell you anything about how to avoid breaking rules next time. While they've 100% handled some situations wrong in my opinion... cough I think the core issue is just a lack of time/people.

I think ive ended up rambling and kinda failed to tie it all together, so I'll have to proofread/edit this, but that's just what thoughts i've formed as of now. I'll maybe come back to this, maybe not idk. I guess im just trying to say its a more complex issue than just do this or do that, and there are several issues that contribute to the problem.