He just doesn’t get it, it’s like a cesspit in there now, people might have put up with the paying for verification nonsense, but unfettered hate and fake news no way decent people are leaving by the 1000s
It's always been like how you describe. I'd say it's actually a better site now because if you open a link without being logged in you can't read any of the comments.
It means you're in and out of the site much quicker than before.