I'm thinking that the differing metagames between EU and NA (STR heavy) has a lot to do with the map rotations. The official NA servers are using the official EU server map rotations, and yeah, they're a lot bigger and more open than the ones we're used to from the ATS servers. It makes sense that EU has a lot more AGI builds, and NA has a lot more STR builds.
If the map rotation for official NA doesn't change, and the players actually manage to adapt (they're pretty stubborn), then I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a movement toward more AGI builds.
Tears got it spot on for me as an admin. I'm new, and still getting used to the tools at my disposal. I'm still developing my mental list of troublesome characters and reliable I-chatters. I find that no matter what you do as an admin, some people will approve, and some will not, whether they say its too lenient or too harsh. I'm not a huge fan of kicking because the worst it does is you lose a multi and have to reconnect, so I'll probably dish out 1 hour or less temp-bans.
The admin tools leave a lot to be desired, though I understand we still don't have full admin powers. I once accidentally tempbanned someone because I thought they were trying to TK a guy they'd reportedly teamwounded before, only to find out that they weren't on the same team, but I couldn't tell because in spectator mode, nobody has banners.