Most meta diaries about changes in this site decry the changes. Have you noticed that?
People hate change. HATE it.
I thought it would be nice to know that a long-time heavy user of this site approves strongly of the new method for posting comments.
When Kos mentioned he might agree to remove the option to reply to tip jars (I am pretty sure I made that suggestion, but don't care to dig up my comment to that effect), I was pleased. Of course, I didn't have much hope that it would happen.
Sure, I have, for many months, been simply tipping a diary and skipping to foolish morass of replies to the 1st comment that invariably follows when a diary makes the rec list.
For the record, all one must do to make that happen is CTRL click any comment and that comment and all its replies shrink away - POOF. Of course, 99% of this site does not follow that strategy, so far too much oxygen is sucked up in that bitter cesspool of FALME.
The mojo-whoring "problem" will also be mitigated. Instead of posting a vapid "You rock, Senator!" tip jar reply to garner favor, a comment must actual have the virtue of being good, or posted chronologically early in the diary. The option to leapfrog up to hundreds of comments that came first will not longer be available. I seriously doubt "the same thing will happen" with #c2 as some have suggested. Getting into a long blathering drama with a comment will always happen. But the lame trying to talk to the diarist excuse for doing so will be removed.
You know how else you can "speak to the diarist"?
Post a comment in his diary.
Barring that, there is always the private message system or even checking his profile for an email address.
Lastly, the fact that the site designers actually left open the option to override the new tip jar matrix is rather clever. If you just love it when there are more comments under the tip jar than in the rest of the comments combined, you can allow that to happen. Simply pre-post your tip jar*. You can even make a statement by merely posting the words Tip Jar and nothing else in advance. Then your opposition to the new system will be noted.
* If you still don't know how to pre-post a tip jar, see this diary.