As it's been mentioned again and again, there are just too many trolls on Gaia anymore. I joined Gaia early 2004 but wasn't really active until about a year later (lack of interwebs).
I'd like to say it was a lot better back then, but that would be stretching it, in my opinion. There were trolls then, just not as many. Also, there really isn't anyway to get rid of the trolls. Yeah, you can report their account until it's banned, but they just make a new one and troll harder than they had been.
Also, artificial inflation is a pain in the arse.
I do feel the need to mention that if you go to the right places, you can have a good amount of fun, and that I did meet some very nice people there. You just need to weed through the idiots to find them.