Actually, I think this is the utopian days. In my memory, there has never been such a broad acceptance of RP styles nor such a mature discourse on RPing nor as many socially well developed and diverse people involved in the hobby. RPGs seem finally to have grown up.
If you go back to the early days of RPG's, the derision filled debate was already everywhere. Not only was there vicious debate about what we would consider broad philosophical issues, but there was vicious debate over what we would consider micro issues. Right at the top you had things like the DaveA and GaryG split.
Pretty much everyone back then seemed to think that there was basically one right way to play the game, and anyone that played it differently was not playing D&D. Gygax himself could appear quite scornful of anyone that extinsively modified 'his' rules (probably because he'd had good reason to on many occassions). A close reading of the Preface of the 1st ed. DMG is recommended for the historically courious.
Then you had the entrance of games like C&S, which was in many ways a D&D rip off, but which said, in essence, 'No, you aren't playing it right. You guys are power gaming, munchkiny, dungeon crawlers. You need to know whether your father was a blacksmith or a cooper or a cook before you are playing the game right!' D&D fans were quick to fire back with the same sort of barbs that we've seen tossed back and forth on the Harn vs. D20 threads here lately. So in short, the atmosphere has pretty always been intolerant.
And though I don't think it is as bad as it used to be (we're older and more diverse on average for one thing), I'm not sure that this latest 'tolerence' is really anything but another type of arrogance in disguise. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it is the gaming worlds version of 'Politically Correct'. 'Tolerence' is of course the foremost virtue lauded in our society, so it is only natural that it should come to the fore of virtues lauded in the gaming community. Yet it seems to me sometimes that the latest 'tolerent' crowd are elitists who like nothing more than to lord how superior they are to everyone else by being oh so 'tolerent' of everybodies gaming style. It is easy to be tolerent when you are in sheltered groups of mature socially adapted gamers enjoying themselves in whatever manner they enjoy themselves. This is not to say that the appropriate responce is to start ranting and raving like some TV evangelist stirring up a mob, but I wonder for all thier tolerence sometimes just how open these elite groups are to admiting new and younger players.
I for one do think that there is a difference between mature and immature play, and while I'm happy when 'munchkins' of any age have fun, I do hope (and encourage) that they out grow it. I do think that the game can be played well, because I've seen it and I've seen the difference.
Then again, there is usually far less difference between power gaming and role playing than we'd like to think, and often as not the two are not incompatible - nor should they be. Just because you are power gaming or hack and slashing doesn't mean you aren't role playing well, and conversely just because you aren't power gaming and hack and slashing doesn't mean you are a good role player. And among these various ingredients you can cook all sorts of good cakes suited to your tastes.
