I haven't been to peesearch in over a year, but here's my review. The place suffers from four major problems: Moderation, lack of content, in-fighting, and the worst page design you've ever seen.
Although Steve dramatically understates his own involvement with the mess at peesearch, participating in down vote wars and making caustic remarks to those who were in disagreement with him, his remarks on moderation are spot on.
Although the stiffness of enforcing the rules reduces spam for sure, it's not really the rules that are the problem. It's their attitude towards members.
The moderators