As suggested by others a smiley one way or another would've gone some way, it's the internet and I can't tell whether it was meant as a joke or not if written in a deadpan style like that - but also the problem is in recent months the tone in the forum has gotten worse, some people hide behind smileys disingenuously while dealing underhanded blows and there's a pile up mentality that resonated with me in this thread last night (those who I'm talking about know who they are).
This atmosphere has somehow created the impression that it's frowned upon to raise criticism, and the forum can be largely split into two sides. I'm not going to explain what those are, I think everyone's pretty aware of that at this stage. It's unfortunate because it stifles healthy debate, but ho-hum.
If Zac's post was indeed just harmless 'bantz' then fair enough, to me it came across as the exact opposite particularly how it was worded and the quote of mine he responded to, in part because unlike with other posters we're not in regular contact at all but also because he is here as an official representative of the company he works for, so that line caught me completely off guard (in a "what do you mean exactly?" way as opposed to taking offence - I grew a pretty thick skin in a different, unmoderated forum I used to live on so can take some heat no problem).
Anyways... I don't want to keep bumping this thread for this, Zac clarified what he meant, I'll stop now.