Yes, I have seen good projects fail because their community and moderators are toxic and attack other projects. No one wants to invest in a project that is mean and hateful.
A professional team does not make comments about other projects and even on being questioned the same, diplomatically evade those statements. So you can understand why project that call others bad are never going to the top. Point is that many projects out there are moderated by kids with zero knowledge and manners. That is a fault from the owners side though to hire such a person, even then they dont hire without past experience with projects, kind of like a cutoff criteria for applicants.
Besides if you see such a project, avoid it at all costs. Those who are desperate the make money will be scammers in the long run or having some motive that is malevolent.
I don't think everything is always under control. The failure of a project does not depend only on the manager, but is the responsibility of the project team.
In a broader perspective, this is more appropriate. Every person in a team has an individual role. Everyone is not perfect but that is what makes them unique. A bad apple will ruin the name of the project so careful screening of people getting involved is important.