Why would anyone need to engage the replies? In many cases, the replies are not the answer the OP looks for, either intentionally or unintentionally, so why engage the trolls or assist in derailing your own thread?
Take Ai-chan for example, Ai-chan rarely reply to the threads Ai-chan started except where a response is absolutely necessary, such as when people ask questions and Ai-chan answered. Ai-chan does not have time to reply to every single comment, especially if the comments are not relevant or lacked relevance to the topic. It's interesting to read the differing views, but that's just it, there is no reward for being an active participant.
In some cases, the view differs from Ai-chan's views. In that case, sometimes Ai-chan takes the stance of "That's interesting, but let's agree to disagree" and chose not to reply. In some cases, Ai-chan disagreed with the view and then decided to give a counter-opinion. And at that point, Ai-chan would decide to be the better girl by leaving that one opinion and then walk away, instead of continuing and risk the discussion becoming a shitfest.
You know, some people just can't accept that they could be wrong and if you disagree with their views than you're automatically wrong in their eyes. Ai-chan has long left that childish notion behind. If you think you can't be wrong, that's fine, Ai-chan will just leave you to your delusions. If you harass Ai-chan, well, you get banned. Simple.
