[Jtsummers]

Flame war detection. I don't know how advanced it is, but it's partly based on the number of comments and depth of comment threads, and their rate of growth. If you have a handful of very deep threads that have grown in just a short period of time, it's often a sign of negative, hostile discussions. When detected, those posts get their score (for how they should be ordered) severely reduced.

[sctb]

Yes, this thread tripped the overheated-discussion detector. We've turned it off for now, but it's not exactly a false positive.