IMO a slight relaxation of OT TOS is not going to solve anything. If you want to retain members and gain new ones, you have to figure out why people get frustrated trying to trade stocks without constantly having their investments being attacked. When the bashers/ FUD spreaders can ad nauseam make statements against the co. 24/7, no matter whether true or not, it makes visiting the board and posting a waste of time. People don't want a tug a war, when the odds are strongly in the favor of those who oppose their investment and just because they make their posts about the co. or officers it makes it somehow "ok". When you don't allow the investor to attack the basher, in what ever manner it takes, they get frustrated that this poster is effecting our stock, or trying to.
You can relax the personal attack aspect for the boards, but make personal "threats" a TOS, not just calling someone a "moron" or "idiot.
Also you should strengthen the vulgarity/profanity TOS so the attacks do not get into a cuss laden tyraid, making it again unbearable. Just my .02
