I totally feel you, I have been on ATRL for almost the same time as you yet I've failed to make any "friends" here, I've had a few talks with a few members but I'm far from being popular. To be honest, I don't really mind it, I enjoy participating whenever I want to and not caring about whether people agree with me or not, and I actually kind of like not being recognized by too many people as I've posted messy things in the past.
To answer your question, I'm definitely not part of the "ATRL community" you're talking about, but I also see that "darkness" and weirdness you're talking about concerning the ATRL "elite", I'd love to see a discussion about it as I'm sure there are many more unpopular members that have asked these questions to themselves.