1) basic Interface – the basic interface is easy to use. As a newbie you can read a simple guide and make your post and "WALA" you will get an answer. The answer may not be exactly what you wanted but it will generally be polite and guide you to either the answer, or to how to state your case so you can get the answer you need.

2) Depth – As you hang out here you discover things about perl, yes but also about the site and community. The interface appears simple but has depth as well as a bit of the gaming mentality – earn xp to gain privileges/abilities. Oh, yeah by the way many privileges also help the community – up/down voting or fun like the ability to add a picture etc.. The community also has amazing depth, the most obscure question applied to the most complex situation can be discussed, and whittled down to a point where several monks can offer valid suggestions. Many times highly experienced monks sit on the sidelines while less experienced monks discuss a simpler problem. This encourages people with some experience to test their wings by helping others with the safety net that an experienced monk will politely step in with a suggestion if a serious mistake is made.

3) Fun – polls, chatterbox, obfu, poetry, meditations, cool new uses for Perl.

4) Targeted – This forum is about Perl, how Perl affects the world, how the world reacts to Perl users, what is important to Perl users and so on, with a bit of whimsy thrown in. but there is very little in the important parts of this site that is on this site that is off topic.

5) Polite but Firm – There is very little that is insulting or derogatory that is tolerated. Almost all responses are polite, even the terse ones. Some unwritten rules are generally adhered to: We will not do your homework, we will guide you, we will help you debug your code if it is supplied, we will suggest reading, but we will not do it for you.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

6) and not least – the dedicated ones who keep the site going and give up the time to build the site and keep it going.