It seems like HN comments are shifting from technical focus toward:
* Early Reddit's low-effort but tame "snark"
* Aggressively moralizing posts dismissing sardonic criticism as dangerous mental illness
I haven't seen much of OP's style lately, especially since n-gate[1] went inactive.
I'm wondering whether that's a bad thing. Although the tone is hostile on the surface, there's usually some aspiration toward competence associated with it.
[1]: http://n-gate.com/