Unlike T_S here I'll be more frank with you, I think S&M needs a new standard, tighter rules and moderation. A forum is a place for intelligent discussion and it rings true for S&M, being one of the most serious forums. I find it absolutely imperative that moderation be stepped up in S&M to ensure the overall well-being of the forum.
Things like "I think Garchomp is to UGLY and needs to be banned" as well as posts actually replying to that message is off-topic as not once does sprites come into play when deciding the tier status of a pokemon. I also would find threads misrepresenting the stance of other organisations unacceptable, as again I would have to quote the Garchomp topic, the OP said that Garchomp was going to be Uber even though it has not - Smogon is merely testing it out on another ladder.
As you can probably derive here my complaints are mostly drawn from the recent topic regarding Garchomp's tier status. It may seem that the problems are actually stemming from the Garchomp topic and enforcement of rules in similar topics, but in reality I feel there is another aspect of S&M that needs to be touched up on.
Team Rating. First off, a posted team on the forums must have six pokemon, and their EVs and moveset, and hold item (if any). This is basic, and I am aware that this rule is being enforced in S&M.
But I feel this is not enough. From the rules:
"i would recommend a little section of text explaining what the pokemon does and how it contributes to your team"
This I feel should be mandatoru in the team rates, simply because this allows a rater to instantly know a rough breakdown of the roles of a team and the synergy a pokemon has with the team, which is an immense help, at least for me.
I would also like to see posts be meaningful on a whole, no "I agree with him, end" stuff, a post needs to contribute to the discussion at hand be it a team rate or a discussion about an individual pokemon. Things that can be said in a Personal / Visitor message should not go into a post unless the post is contributing to the discussion at hand.
I hope you will take the time to read through my proposal and thoughts on S&M. Thank you.